In the Wild, Wild West
by Orion'sProdigy
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto are sheriffs, Kakashi is a marshal, Sakura is a pink Annie Oakley, and the Akatsuki is a gang of rough riders with dubious intentions. More specifically, the western AU that lovely cover art begged to be written.
1. Chapter 1

"Marshal, Marshal, Marshal!"

Seated at a desk in the dusty sheriff's office with his feet propped up on the edge, the silver-haired man glanced up from the newspaper he'd been skimming. The source of the noise skidded to a halt on the worn wooden floor in front of the desk; it was a local boy, with scruffy brown hair and round cheeks and a penchant for ridiculously long scarves.

"Yo, Konohamaru. Slow down there. What's the matter?" he asked lazily.

The boy bent over, hands on his knees, and panted for a second. Once he'd regained his breath (mostly), he straightened up to speak.

"'member, you said I could help out by keeping an eye on who all was comin' and goin' in town, right? Well, I just seen somethin' mighty strange!" he said, puffing out his chest importantly.

Kakashi nodded.

"I do recall something of the sort. What did you see?" he asked, humoring the boy; his eyes turned back to the newspaper.

"It's Sheriff Sasuke, sir! Him and Sheriff Naruto were fighting-

"Is that all? I'm sure Sakura will sort them out," he mused; best frienemies that those two were, they seemed to spend every other night brawling. Their fights generally resolved themselves after a good round of fisticuffs.

"But that's not all! A whole bunch of hooligan lookin' guys on horses came ridin' through town real fast like, and they had these weird clouds on the back of their dusters - every single one of 'em, big red clouds, boy it looked funny - and then Sheriff Sasuke shouted somethin' at one of 'em and he kicked Naruto and took off on Mr. Sai's horse - cause it was the closest, I think, but Mr. Sai didn't seem too happy about it - and then Naruto started shoutin' and he took off on Teacher's horse-

"They both took off? After this 'red cloud' group?" Kakashi questioned sharply; he was sensing that the boy's babbling was about to devolve into incoherent nonsense, so it was time to cut him off.

"Yeah! And Sheriff Sasuke looked real mad! Like even madder than the time Naruto and me put that itchy stuff in his- Where ya goin?"

"To find those two knuckleheads. Go on home now," he instructed as he pulled on his own duster and settled his hat over his unruly hair. "Thanks for the tip." He snagged his rifle from the rack by the door and stepped out to swing into his saddle, sliding the gun into its holster and tugging the reins lightly to direct the creature down the street.

A pink haired young woman on what looked like Sasuke's horse met him on his way out, her path merging with his as she checked the load on the revolver in her hand.

"Miss Haruno. What a pleasant surprise to see you out riding so late in the day," he remarked in his usual easy manner, despite the serious situation. "Shouldn't you be turning down the sheriff's bed sheets or something?"

"Can it, Hatake. That was Akatsuki that rode through earlier," she huffed, holstering her gun, apparently satisfied.

"Konohamaru told me," he nodded. "I guess it's too much to ask that they would have had the good sense to come get us before they rode off after them."

"This _is_ Sasuke and Naruto we're talking about," she pointed out, arching a brow at him.

"Aa. That's true," he smiled slightly ruefully and then shook his head. "I hope he wasn't with them...Sasuke's going to be unmanageable enough as it is," he sighed, his expression becoming more serious as they caught sight of the dust clouds ahead that signified their quarry.

"Yeah, but going by how fast he took off..." Sakura grimaced and urged her horse faster.

"Hm."

He nudged his own mount a bit to keep up with the change of pace, and they caught up to the nearer dust cloud (now settling quickly) in short order. What they found there was not terribly surprising.

"God damn it, get offa me, you moron!"

"You're gonna get yourself killed, bastard!"

"Just let go!"

"Ow! Damn it Sasuke!"

"Shut up, Naruto!"

The two were on the ground at this point, wrestling with each other, Sasuke trying to break out of Naruto's iron grip and Naruto doing his best to hold him down. Their horses circled nervously, pawing the dirt and snorting irritably.

Kakashi sighed, slumping forward in his saddle, hands crossed over the horn.

"Are you two idiots done yet? We need to talk about a few things," he drawled after another half a minute or so of their scuffling.

They glanced at him and Sasuke attempted a last cheap shot at Naruto's face with the arm the blonde was still holding by the wrist, and Naruto snarled and struck back at him and they dissolved into a wrestling mess again.

There was a soft thump at Sakura alighted on the ground and then she kicked them both (Naruto in his exposed ass and Sasuke in the shin) and pried them apart in the ensuing surprised pause, her impressive strength born of years of life riding after her two best friends.

"Knock it off, you idiots!" she snapped, fists on her hips as she glared at them both. "This is just embarrassing. You might've even caught them if you hadn't wasted so much damn time fighting like this, but thank heaven you didn't! You two probably would've started arguing over who gets to shoot who!" Her rant went on for another minute or so, until the two looked suitably cowed (Naruto cowering slightly and Sasuke sulking).

Kakashi chose that moment to re-enter the conversation (such that it was).

"C'mon now. This is the fourth sighting in a week. We should go back to town and talk this over. Come up with a plan. There's too many of the bastards to just go rushing in headlong like this," he said firmly; he glanced at all three of his protégés, but his eyes lingered the longest on Sasuke. "Regardless of personal grudges. Got it?"

"Tch." The Uchiha looked away, getting to his feet and dusting himself off.

Naruto huffed and nodded, looking slightly abashed; his eyes glanced over at Sasuke as well as he brushed the prairie dust off his clothes.

"I guess you're right, Kakashi...huh-ugh! Those damn horses!" he growled; their borrowed mounts had taken off back toward the town the instant Sakura started railing at the two (no doubt off to find their much less aggressive masters).

"Well, if you're going to steal a horse..." Kakashi trailed, offering the blonde a hand to swing onto the saddle behind him.

"Shuddup. Ya know I only did it to catch up with the bastard over there. And Iruka doesn't mind."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, watching Sasuke swing into his saddle and Sakura settle comfortably behind him, her arms around his waist as she rested her cheek against the back of his shoulder. He tapped his horse's sides lightly with his spurs and the creature started off at a trot to lead the way back to the town.

* * *

"So far we've got sightings of them here, here, and here, as well as tonight's little fiasco in town," Kakashi said, drawing little x's on the map they had spread out on his desk.

"Doesn't look like much of a pattern," Naruto said, rubbing his messy blonde head with a sigh.

"They _are_ getting closer and closer to the town, though," Sakura pointed out.

Kakashi nodded.

"As much as I hate to say it, we're going to have to do something about them if they keep this up," he sighed, glancing at Sasuke; the man had been broody and silent since they'd returned (nothing too new, except that he'd simply ignored all of Naruto's jabs instead of returning them).

"What?" he grunted, looking out the window.

Kakashi sighed again.

"They must be holed up in the hills somewhere," he said, indicating the hill country to their west. "I want to find out where, do a little recon, before we do much more. I'll take Pakkun out tomorrow and see what we can find. You three hold down the fort while I'm gone."

Objections immediately rose from the three in their own respective ways; Sasuke straightened up and stared at him, Sakura banged her fist on the table, and Naruto cried out.

"You're not goin' out there on your own!" the blonde protested.

"It's not safe, Kakashi," Sakura agreed, crossing her arms. "You know how dangerous they are."

"They've wiped out entire squads of rangers before! Not happening," Naruto nodded firmly.

Kakashi waited for their outcries to quiet.

"If I take anyone with me, I'm more likely to get found out," he replied when they'd settled a bit. "I'm the best tracker you'll ever meet, and I took plenty of scouting missions back in the war," he said firmly.

"You're taking one of us with you," Sasuke put in finally, his face set in what those who knew him recognized as his stubborn look.

The marshal ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Not you," he said firmly; Sasuke was liable to fly off the handle if he saw a certain someone among the ranks of the group.

"Then who? Naruto is the worst hunter alive," he pointed out.

He sighed slightly and nodded, even as the blonde snapped at his friend in response to the comment; Naruto was anything but stealthy.

The only one left was glaringly obvious, and she had planted her fists on her hips as she stared at him expectantly.

"...Sakura...I don't want to ask you to-

"Kakashi Hatake. If you start in on some lecture about my gender, I swear to God I will throw you through that window."

Kakashi eyed her; in all probability, she would. That slim frame held a truly monstrous amount of strength that no one seemed able to adequately explain.

"If I tell you to run, you run. Got it?" His tone brooked no argument, but she argued anyway while the boys sputtered and tried to think of their own arguments.

"And what? Leave you there? They'd skin you alive for the fun of it."

"Sakura." He met her gaze levelly. "You're not going if you don't promise me."

She glared back mulishly, both of them ignoring Naruto's protests and Sasuke's quiet disagreement. He merely folded his arms and waited.

"...fine, you stubborn old coot," she huffed, shaking her head.

The corner of his visible eye curved in a smile.

"You always say such sweet things, Sakura dear." He dodged the paperweight she chucked at him. "I'll meet you at sundown behind the inn."

She nodded curtly and stalked out of the office with her head held high. They all three pretended not to watch her leave.

"...you're taking my girlfriend out chasing bandits," Sasuke stated, eyeing him coolly.

"Oh, she's your girlfriend now, huh?" Naruto, unable to resist, teased.

Sasuke punched him without looking away from Kakashi. Kakashi shrugged.

"If you two were suitable for the job, I'd take one of you," he said. "But you're not. And I trust Sakura. As should you."

He made an irritated noise and strode out after the pinkette.

Kakashi glanced at Naruto.

"I suppose you're mad at me, too," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head; he didn't particularly care either way, but the blonde would be more annoying than usual if he was allowed to sulk.

"...not really," Naruto said after a moment, fixing him with a fierce look. "But you better not let anything happen to Sakura."

Kakashi smiled slightly.

"I don't think you need to worry about her."

* * *

**A/N: This is sort of an exploratory thing that struck me while I was procrastinating (oddly enough, I always get my best ideas when I'm supposed to be doing something else). Anyway. It was obviously inspired by the cover art Kishimoto drew that showed our heroes as cowboys. I might continue it, but I can't promise steady updates; exam week is coming up, after all. Anyway. Let me know what you all think if you want to see more of this. Thanks for reading. Please review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything like that. Blah. Also, the cover image is not mine, so credit to everyone who wants it.**


	2. Chapter 2

They met behind the inn as they'd decided the previous day, Sakura absently twisting the leather reins of her horse in her hands; Kakashi, predictably, showed up about fifteen minutes after her, as the sun was just disappearing.

"Ready?"

"Of course." She tugged the brim of her hat, a dark number she'd borrowed from Sasuke instead of her usual light beige, further down over her face and settled into her saddle. Her choice of clothing was much darker in general than her usual, brighter style to account for the circumstances of their mission.

Kakashi nodded; he was wearing his usual dark clothes. His favorite dog, a small, wrinkle-faced thing, was seated on the saddle in front of him, prompting Sakura to roll her eyes. Heaven forbid one of his precious pets catch a burr in its paw.

"Let's go," he said, nudging his horse forward; she nodded as well and followed after.

They took the prairie at an easy trot in an attempt to reduce the amount of dust they threw. The hills weren't that far off from the town, and they made the journey in relative silence, which surprised Kakashi just a little. Sakura had a tendency to provide the occasional commentary, usually on her day or his day or Naruto and Sasuke's latest antics, but tonight she was quiet. He could respect that, though; it wasn't exactly in his own nature to be some chatty Cathy.

In truth, she was lost in thought; she wasn't even paying much attention to her horse, the animal merely following Kakashi's lead out of habit. Sasuke had been acting quite strange since the previous evening, when they'd decided that she would be the one to accompany Kakashi on the scouting errand.

_"Okay, what's up with you?" she had asked upon settling into the little flat they shared with Naruto above the general store; people could talk all they wanted, but she liked living with the two (most of the time). "Are you that mad that he wouldn't let you go?"_

_ Sasuke, who had just stormed into the apartment, glanced over at her, and for a second, she thought he was going to snap at her; he'd been in a very snappy mood all evening, being even broodier than usual and totally ignoring all of Naruto's attempts to get a rise out of him. Then he spoke. _

_ "I don't want you to go."_

_ One pink eyebrow arched._

_ "Why?" she asked, her tone challenging; her hands, forming fists, found her hips. "Because I'm some little girl you and Naruto feel like you have to protect?"_

_ His answering gaze was flat. _

_ "No."_

_ Her brow arched higher. _

_ "Elaborate."_

_ He looked annoyed at that, and he got to his feet and strode toward his room, ever the tight-lipped drama queen. _

_ "I don't want you to die, Sakura," he said flatly, and then he closed the bedroom door behind him. _

_ She stared after him, nonplussed. _

It was a simple scouting trip, after all, and Kakashi hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said he was the best tracker around, besides the fact that he was _Kakashi Hatake,_ a living legend in their part of the west.

And it wasn't as if Sakura was some naive little girl anymore. Her skill with a rifle had earned her a fair amount of renown, and she was actually a pretty great hunter. She could only assume that his little fit of protectiveness had something to do with the fact that in all likelihood, his estranged older brother was going to be among the crowd of ruffians.

The horse she was riding came to an abrupt halt and dragged her from her thoughts; she glanced at Kakashi, tilting her head questioningly. They'd reached the edge of the hills and slipped into the shelter of a shallow divot in the side of one of the rocky promontories.

"On foot from here," he said, nudging his horse into the shadow of the hill and tugging his rifle free of its saddle holster; he'd rubbed the barrel with black grease to reduce the gleam of the silver metal.

Sakura nodded and snagged her own weapon; it was similarly disguised, with a rag wrapped around the handle of the lever to quiet the action should she need it.

"After me," Kakashi said quietly, leaning down to mutter something to his dog (eccentric old coot) and then taking off after the creature.

Sakura nodded and followed him, oiled boots making no sound across the uneven ground.

They spent about an hour simply following Kakashi's dog as they ranged slowly back and forth, steadily working their way further into the hills as the moon, luckily only a thin crescent tonight, rose higher and higher. Then the dog came to a sudden stop and so did Kakashi, every muscle freezing at once; Sakura nearly walked into him, catching her breath as the faintest sound of voices reached her.

Kakashi pressed a finger to his bandana covered lips and then dropped to a crouch, easing forward toward the top of the ridge they had been steadily making their way up. Sakura followed his lead, moving with excruciating slowness in the interest of stealth. The voices got louder the higher they rose.

The man settled on his stomach as they reached the sharp top of the ridge, carefully inching along the ground until he could peer over the very edge, Sakura lying beside him similarly.

The scene revealed to them was something out of a cowboy novel (minus the unusual hairstyles).

There were a number of people gathered in a small dip down the other side of the ridge, which sloped down at a much more gently pace than the side they'd just climbed. There was a campfire burning in the approximate center of the group, horses nibbling at the short, tough grasses and shrubs that grew in the harsh terrain, circling the edge of the light. A woman with deep blue hair was standing nearest the fire, prodding at the contents of a large iron cooking pot that was suspended over it. Around her, several men of varying descriptions lounged and chatted at each other.

"Fucking jerky and beans again for dinner tonight...can't you cook anything else, woman?" a silver haired man griped from where he was sprawled next to an older guy who was nearly as covered up as Kakashi.

"Would you rather I cooked sand, Hidan? Because that's your only other option at this point," the woman replied, her tone cool.

Hidan opened his mouth to protest and got an elbow to the gut from the man beside him.

"Shut up, brat. We don't have the money for anything better because imbeciles like you and that behemoth spend it all on liquor," he griped.

"Oh pipe down you cheap ass," Hidan retorted. "You wanna know where all the fucking money goes, you look at those idiotic 'artists'," he grumbled.

"Watch what you say, Hidan, or you might find some of my art in your sleeping bag, yeah," a blonde man on the other side of the fire growled, toying with what looked like a stick of dynamite in his hand.

"Yeah, 'cause you couldn't take me head on, you little pansy ass," he sneered back.

The blonde got to his feet and so did Hidan, and the woman and the other two men (the redhead next to the blonde and the older guy) sighed.

"What is going on here?" a deep voice asked from the edge of the circle, an orange haired man stepping into the circle of light. "I told you two to stop with the brawling," he said flatly, glancing between the two.

Both men looked away and sat back down. The newcomer settled back down in the shadows, watching them closely.

It got quiet at that, and there was no more conversation until the woman announced that their food was done.

The men approached one by one to receive their share, several more appearing from the shadows.

"Kisame, where is your partner?" the orange haired one (the leader, perhaps?) questioned.

The huge man with the strange markings on his face shrugged.

"Sleepin', I think."

The leader seemed to consider for a moment.

"Wake him. We won't have much time to eat after this. I plan to move out before the morning."

The man grunted something and strode off out of the firelight; when he returned a moment or two later, he was followed by a man that Sakura recognized, if only from the wanted posters and vague recollections from her childhood.

Itachi Uchiha. Sasuke's big brother. The one who'd disappeared into the sunset when Sasuke was eight-going-on-nine, and the boy had returned home from school to find his parents murdered on the floor of their family house's living room, Itachi standing over them with a revolver still in his hands.

The sight of him now made her blood boil because this man was the cause of a great deal of Sasuke's suffering (the rest of it being somewhat unfortunately and almost exclusively self-inflicted).

The man was silent and he looked more tired than usual as he accepted his portion of the food and went to settle beside Kisame.

"So what's with all this nocturnal stuff, Pein?" Kisame once everyone was settled and eating. "I don't mind it, but Itachi here needs his beauty sleep."

The man beside him didn't react, merely focusing on picking his meal apart meticulously.

"I want you all acclimated to the 'nocturnal' timetables before I tell you that," the orange haired man, apparently 'Pein', replied, his tone inflectionless.

"Hmph. Always the dramatics with you," Kisame grumbled, stabbing at his food.

"You're free to go if you don't like it," the man stated flatly, looking over at him; he had strange, almost periwinkle colored eyes that caught the light of the fire.

"Nah...there's bound to be some action eventually," Kisame shrugged after a second or two. "I'm can wait a little longer..."

It got quiet again until the blonde started an argument (about art, of all things) with the redhead, and Hidan and the one with the orange bandana started arguing about the argument the other two were having (or at least, she was pretty sure that was what they were arguing about; bandana boy's logic was about as sound as a drunken Naruto's).

Next to her, Kakashi nudged her elbow and then very slowly started easing back down the ridge. She crawled backwards with him, breath hitching as she felt her boot come into contact with a loose rock, which felt the need to clatter its way loudly several yards down the slope behind them.

The murmur of voices from the group they'd been watching disappeared suddenly, the night utterly silent.

Kakasih scooped up a rock and chucked it several yards to their right; a small shape darted after the rock swiftly, leaning down to sniff at it just in time for Kakashi to push Sakura's face down into the dirt and a shadow to appear over the top of the ridge.

Light, almost soundless footsteps steadily made their way toward the place Kakashi had thrown the rock and then paused; after a long moment, the footsteps started to retreat, until they'd reached the top of the ridge again.

"Just an animal," a smooth baritone that she vaguely recognized informed the group below, his footsteps started back down (thankfully on the other side).

There were several remarks and a couple of vague complaints and then, steadily, the buzz of the conversation started again; beside her, Kakashi relaxed and released his grip on her head, though he didn't move from his position.

They laid there for another fifteen minutes at least before they started easing back down the slope.

Twenty or so minutes later, they were back at their horses and mounting up, Kakashi digging a bit of jerky from his bag for the dog that'd rejoined them shortly after they'd left the camp area.

"Talk about close...I'm sorry, Kakashi," she muttered, rubbing the back of her head a bit sheepishly; she could still feel the adrenaline running cold in her veins.

"Don't bother. It's over now," he replied as he settled more comfortably in his saddle and his horse started forward. "This trip was an almost total bust, though," he sighed. "Especially if they plan on moving out again in the morning."

"At least we know how many of them there are," Sakura pointed out. "If we rounded up a couple of your marshal friends, we could probably take them when we find them again."

"Maybe," Kakashi allowed, though he didn't look convinced. "They're pretty notoriously tricky bastards, though...actually, I'm surprised we didn't get caught. Pakkun is pretty obviously a pet," he said, frowning slightly. "And Itachi is smart enough to know it."

Sakura frowned.

"So that _was_ Itachi?"

"Yes," Kakashi nodded, looking away out over the prairie to signify the end of that particular conversation.

"Thought I recognized the voice..." she muttered to herself.

"Hm." He shook the reins, picking up his pace just a bit.

"So...what do you think that guy meant when he said he wanted everyone to be 'nocturnal'?" she asked.

"I would assume it means he's planning on doing a lot of operations at night," Kakashi replied, arching a brow at her slightly; she flushed faintly at the obvious conclusion and stuck her tongue out at him. "Very mature."

"I mean what kind of jobs do you think they're planning? Burglaries?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. "There's also that railroad that's just about to start running. I doubt there will be many people riding it that don't have plenty of valuables, and a transcontinental trip is sure to take more than twenty-four hours."

She nodded slightly.

"And it would probably be easier to rob a train at night than during the day," she said.

"Right. Less chance of people being awake to get in the way."

"Hm..."

It got quiet after that, and Sakura was drawn back into her thoughts; she couldn't help feeling just a little smug. They'd found their target and were nearly home and she was fine, so Sasuke (and Naruto, to a lesser degree, because he hadn't been a jerk about it) could take his stupid over-concern and shove it. As soon as she thought it, though, she felt a bit bad.

_He's just worried about me..._

Then again, so was Naruto, and he hadn't shoved it in her face and thrown what amounted to a tantrum when she'd told him to get over it.

She sighed. For all that she loved the man, he was utterly insufferable sometimes.

* * *

**A/N: No one is more surprised by this update than I am. It just happened. I couldn't help it. For those of you wondering about pairings, I haven't entirely decided yet myself. I know it looks like SasuSaku is shaping up, but I'm not sure how it's going to pan out yet. I have a few other interesting leads to follow as far as pairings go. Anyway, please review. I greatly appreciate commentary of any sort (barring flames, of course). I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

Hat tipped low to shade his eyes, Sasuke leaned against the wall next to the door that formed the entrance to the sheriff's office. His arms were crossed in front of him and the heel of his left boot rested against the wall behind him. He was waiting (brooding, Naruto would have called it) for Kakashi and Sakura to return.

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon when they finally trotted into town up the main street, about the same time that a sleepy looking Naruto clomped up onto the raised porch that fronted the building, yawning into his hand.

"Mornin, bastard..." he mumbled, squinting in the direction that Sasuke was facing. "'Bout time they got in..."

Sasuke merely grunted faintly in reply.

"Good morning, boys," Sakura greeted tiredly as their horses came to a halt in front of the hitching post.

"Mornin', Sakura," Naruto smiled. "How'd it go?"

"There were no major disasters, so that's something," Kakashi said as he slid out of his saddle lithely; he stretched his arms above his head and several things popped and cracked. "I'll tell you more inside." He headed into the office.

Sasuke followed him silently, the other two bringing up the rear. Naruto set a jug of coffee (which he'd brought with him) on the desk, and Sakura dug four tin mugs from a cupboard. Once they'd all had some of the strong, bitter liquid, Kakashi took his feet off the desk and sat up straight.

"There are nine of them all together," he began, the three becoming instantly attentive. "Eight men and a woman. I recognized several of them from various wanted posters. Apparently, they're planning on working at night. They're even changing they're sleeping patterns for it."

"Night owls, huh? What are they after, I wonder?" Naruto mused.

"There's not a whole lot of money in cattle rustling anymore, or I would expect that," Kakashi replied. "Sakura and I talked about it and I've been chewing over it ever since. I think it might have something to do with the railroad."

"Son of a bitch...ya think they're gonna rob the trains?" Naruto shook his head, looking irritated.

"Maybe...It just seems risky. They can't know how much profit they'll stand to make. And besides that, I'm sure that plenty of those trains will just be hauling resources, cargo and that sort of thing," Kakashi stated. "Unless they've got someone passing them tips on the passengers, they could easily strike out."

"What's to say they won't have people watching the stations?" Sakura pointed out.

"Nothing," he replied, shrugging slightly. "It's entirely possible. And it could very well be their plan. But if that's the case, then the marshals will have to start patrolling the rails. And that puts it out of your jurisdiction," he said, tipping his head toward Sasuke and Naruto. "Which means I'll be handling the investigation from here on. All I want you two to worry about is keeping the town out of it."

"You're crazy if you think we're lettin' you take these guys on alone! We had this conversation already," Naruto said stubbornly, Sakura bristling beside him as she nodded her agreement.

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Settle down. I never said I was going to handle it alone. There _are_ other marshals out there, you know."

Sakura relaxed slightly, but Naruto still didn't look happy.

"That railroad is awful close to our town. What if some of the ranchers get caught in the crossfire?" he argued. "I wanna be involved, Kakashi."

Kakashi spared a swift glance at Sasuke, who'd been silent the entire time.

"I think it's best if you two sit this one out. We'll have those thugs behind bars in no time. I'll even use your prison, if it makes you happy," he said.

"Was he with them?"

Kakashi looked over at the Uchiha, who was staring into his coffee, hat tilted low to hide most of his features. He sighed.

"Yes," he nodded.

Sasuke's hand tightened on the mug.

"And it's exactly why I don't want any of you involved," Kakashi continued. "Especially you, Sasuke. Your personal feelings will compromise you judgement, and I don't want you getting hurt for it."

"He's my problem, Kakashi," Sasuke said lowly, his eyes still fixed on the dark liquid in his cup.

"But as Akatsuki, he's now officially out of your hands, Sasuke," the older man replied evenly. "I'll handle this case. I want you to stay out of it."

"It's my right," he retorted, and his voice was almost a growl.

"Revenge killings were outlawed years ago, if that's how you want to play. The marshals and I will handle the Akatsuki matter from here on out. You three stay on your guard around town, but do not engage them without due cause. Understood?" His tone held a note of finality, and he continued without waiting for an answer. "Good. I'm going to get some shut eye and then ride into the city to get some backup. Keep your eyes open." He stood and strolled out of the room, swinging into his saddle and letting his horse plod off lazily toward the saloon that he usually stayed in.

All eyes turned to Sasuke in time for the young man to drop his cup on the desk and stalk out of the office.

"Ah, hell..." Naruto muttered, rubbing the back of his head. He glanced between the desk and his retreating friend.

Sakura sighed and slumped into the chair.

"Go...if anyone comes in, I'll handle it," she said, kicking her feet up on the desk and pulling her hat down over her face. "He listens to you more than he listens to me."

Naruto frowned; he wasn't sure that was true, and he also felt bad about keeping her from her bed, but Sasuke tended to do stupid things when he was in one of his moods as he clearly was now...

"He's going to get away if you don't quit dawdling."

"Right...thanks, Sakura," he nodded, and he trotted out hastily to catch up to the Uchiha.

* * *

Naruto caught up to him at the stable behind the general store they lived above, rubbing his horse's neck and fingering the pistol slung at his side with his free hand.

"Hey...he's just tryin' to protect us, ya know," Naruto said as he leaned against the stall door, absently scratching the dun's nose.

"Shut up, Naruto." His tone was flat, inflectionless. "Stay out of it."

"...you're not thinkin' about going after them, are ya? Because you know you're outnumbered, and I know you're a quick draw, but there's more of them than you've got bullets in your gun."

"I said shut up," the Uchiha snapped, his voice suddenly biting and cold. "Don't you think I know that already?"

Naruto scowled and fought an urge to knock some sense into him.

"Then why are you still considering it?"

"You don't get it, and you never will, so just shut up before I hit you," Sasuke growled, his fists clenching at his sides as he turned to face Naruto.

"This again, really? Sasuke, I've told you a thousand times I'd do anything if you'd just help me to 'get it'," he retorted, but Sasuke seemed to have fallen back into his own little world of hatred and revenge and melodrama, stroking the gun at his side.

"He's so close...the other day, if I'd had my rifle..."

"Sasuke, stop it." Naruto darted forward and snagged his revolver right out of its holster, ducking the punch he swung at him in return. "Don't you remember what happened last time you tried this crap?"

Sasuke's glare turned a little icier in response to that.

He'd been an angry fifteen year old cowboy with a draw like lightning and the ring of criminals out of Sound had presented exactly what he'd thought he'd needed: an excess of firepower and a pretty impressive amount of cleverness. Of course, two years in, when he'd finally built up enough credibility with the leader (a slimy but admittedly powerful man named Orochimaru) to suggest going after a certain bounty, he'd had reality come crashing down on him in the form of the butt of his elder brother's pistol.

The hunt had been a farce; even though Sasuke and his posse, five of the toughest thugs the gang possessed, cornered his brother and his 'partner' (the hulking, tattooed man known as Kisame) in the end of a slot canyon (which had been their plan from the beginning). His brother had always been known and praised for his nigh impossible skill with a gun, and Kisame was nearly as well known for being a veritable force of nature with whatever weapon he cared to pick up (be it his a rifle, an old saber, or simply his fists).

They'd exhausted much of their ammo taking shots at the two during the chase, and it was easy for Itachi to knock their weapons from their hands with a well placed bullet (one for each of them in his six shooter). By the time they'd stopped cussing and tried to draw their secondary weapons, Kisame was upon them and Itachi had drawn his second gun. The fight, even though it was three to one, had been over in less than five minutes. Sasuke woke up tied to his saddle, his horse plodding into a town he didn't recognize; the so called Sound Five never woke up at all, though their horses were tied behind Sasuke's in a line.

It was in this town that he'd run into Kakashi, and the marshal, who he'd known as a child by way of a distant cousin, had given him a choice. He could work alongside the man, learning his trade and the way of the law, or he could take a seat in the town jail and wait for the next prison convoy to come through.

Sasuke spent three days in a cell before his senses caught up to him and he'd petitioned the man to let him reconsider his decision. Kakashi had agreed, an almost infuriatingly knowing look in his eyes, and Sasuke took to traveling with him while he went about his duties; it wasn't long after that that he'd reconnected with Naruto and Sakura (more childhood friends) in Konoha, and then they'd all ended up in a little outpost town a few miles south of the city.

Sasuke scowled at the blonde.

"It won't be like that this time."

"Yeah. It'll be worse, cause this time there's nine of them and one of you," Naruto replied, crossing his arms and glaring right back at him. "You'll die, Sasuke."

His gaze darkened and his hand strayed to his empty holster.

"So will he."

"And you think that's a decent trade off?!" Naruto demanded, and this time he really did swing at his friend, though Sasuke caught his fist before it connected.

"Give me my gun, Naruto."

"No," he grunted, his hand wrapped tightly around the weapon. "How can you even think stuff like that? Do you _want_ to die?" His voice quieted at that last question.

"I don't want him to live," Sasuke countered, refusing to meet Naruto's eyes.

"Well that sucks, 'cause your scrawny ass can't do crap about it," Naruto growled, tugging his hand free to grab his friend's sleeve. "Get over it and c'mon. Sakura needs to sleep and we've got jobs to do." He yanked hard on his sleeve, tugging him forward a few steps.

Sasuke glowered at him witheringly for a long moment, the clash of wills almost tangible, before letting him pull him along. Clearly leaving while the idiot was around and awake was going to be a ton of extra effort. He could wait a little longer.

(He'd never admit to feeling even the faintest bit guilty (or, god forbid, warm) at the shock on his face when he'd implied he wouldn't mind dying if it accomplishing his goal.)

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter. Mostly because it's Friday and I hate doing things that are actually productive on Fridays. It's a little shorter than the others, but I felt like it was a decent stopping point. Meh. Please review. It would make me very happy. Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekends.**


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi sighed lightly, his saddle creaking comfortingly as he resettled in it once again and tugged his horse up away from the roadside water trough he'd stopped at. Tapping the creature's flanks until they were moving along at a brisk canter, he scratched at the back of his head.

He'd said goodbye to the three kids early that morning and taken off as the sun rose, not wanting to waste any time. Sasuke worried him enough as it was, and Sakura's report that she'd had to send Naruto after him only increased his fear that the boy would do something stupid.

Being somewhat of an introverted eccentric in nature, and not one to make many personal connections (he had his own tragic past to thank for that, in part), it caught him by surprise sometimes how much he cared about the brats (though certain people would have said the opposite, given his affinity for strays).

He'd known all three of them since they were children (in Sasuke and Naruto's cases, since they were born). When he'd gotten back from the last of his duties to the war and the early years of his appointment as a marshal they'd all been around seven, and they'd followed him around Konoha like lost puppies. It was adorable and he didn't have the heart to chase them off.

After Sasuke's tragedy, he'd ensured that the boy had a place to live, and that he and they kept going to school (as much as Naruto hated it), because it'd seemed like the thing to do. Around the time they were about to turn fourteen, he'd received orders to go on the move again. He'd assumed that the three could handle themselves well enough, especially with the amount of old friends Kakashi had watching out for them.

Apparently, in Sasuke's case, he'd been dead wrong, and he still felt guilty over the fiasco that the boy's hotheadedness had gotten him into.

When he'd caught up to him in that town out in the middle of nowhere, bloodied and bruised and tied to his horse in an utterly pathetic mess, he'd been suitably hacked off, but more than that, he'd been disappointed. He'd meant it when he said he'd send the boy off with a prison convoy (at least, he'd meant it the first time he'd said it). He was glad when Sasuke'd snapped out of his funk and reached out to him after a few days in the cell.

They'd traveled together for a month or so before he directed his course back toward Konoha with the intent to look up Sakura and Naruto again. The two had been remarkably delighted to see them, and before long he had two more clinging to his presence like burrs to his socks.

He'd helped them get settled in their little outpost town when they were nineteen and he'd been alerted to a need for a sheriff. Sasuke and Naruto, being the competitive idiots that they were, had been unable to decide which of them would be deputy (even after several bloody-knuckled fights), so Kakashi had named them co-Sheriffs (an utterly preposterous notion that nonetheless settled the issue) and told Sakura to keep an eye on them while he went about his traveling duties.

As of late, most of those duties had seen him off digging up what dirt he could on Akatsuki alongside his usual work. Not that he'd told any of them that; he didn't want them worrying, and he definitely didn't want to spark any attempts to stick their noses into the affair.

His horse nickered quietly and came to a halt, and he glanced around with some vague surprise to realize they'd reached the edge of the city. He resettled in his saddle and nudged the animal forward again, heading for a saloon called the Tipsy Nin (the usual place to go to encounter any of the visiting marshals). Sliding out of the saddle and draping his reins over the hitching post, he sauntered into the building.

The place was suitably empty given the early hour (it was only an hour's ride from the outpost), though the few figures that could be seen settled at tables in the dining area were familiar to him.

"Kakashi! What a wonderful surprise to see you so youthfully early, my rival!"

Kakashi pocketed his hands and casually side-stepped the big man with the bowl-cut as he came hurtling over, making his way to the only occupied table. He snagged a chair from a nearby table and settled backwards in, resting his arms on the back.

"What's got you up so early, brat?" a big, older guy with copious amounts of long white hair asked.

"This and that. I need a little help with something, if you're not too busy, Jiraiya," he replied, 'uffing' a little as the other man bounded back over and slapped him on the back. "Hello, Gai. I didn't see you there," he added, glancing sidelong at the man.

Gai wilted slightly, muttering about his 'coolness' and then dropped into the chair he'd vacated.

"_You're_ asking for help? This must be good," a smoking man with scruffy dark hair and beard remarked. The red-eyed woman beside him rolled her eyes.

"It's about Akatsuki. I've got some interesting intel," Kakashi said.

"What news do you bring us about those most unyouthful ruffians, my rival?" Gai boomed.

Kakashi allowed himself to sigh faintly.

"They're planning night operations. All nine of them have gathered in the hills west of the southern outpost. I have to assume that their target is the new railroad," he explained. "They rode through town a few days ago and then I tracked them into the hills and listened in for a while."

"Interesting," Jiraiya murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "My informant has been oddly quiet recently. Perhaps this is why..."

Kakashi arched a brow slightly.

"You and your informants," the dark-haired man muttered.

"You sure he hasn't turned on you?" the woman asked.

"Of course I'm sure," Jiraiya huffed.

"We should hunt them down and put an end to their unyouthful terrorizing once and for all," Gai said vehemently.

"I was thinking we could stick to patrolling the rails for now," Kakashi interjected. "There's a stretch that they're likely to target, based on their position."

"But why not just put an end to them all together, Kakashi?" the bearded man questioned, lighting a fresh cigarette.

"Because they're ridiculously tricky, Asuma. They'll do anything just to survive, and it makes fighting them like fighting a wounded animal. Which is why I'm proposing we patrol for a while and gather more intel. If they do make an attempt on a train, it will be a better opportunity for us to go after them. I'm sure they'll be more focused on the job than anything. It'll be our best chance to catch them by surprise."

"And if they're in the middle of an heist, we won't have to worry about any of the bureaucratic crap. Plenty of witnesses and very clear due cause," Jiraiya nodded; he had plenty of experience with politics, and while it was fairly rare in the past for anyone to try to rein in the marshals, it was becoming more and more of a common occurrence. Times were changing after all, and it cut back on their freedom to act as they saw fit substantially.

"Right," Kakashi agreed. "So can I count on you four?"

"I'm in," Jiraiya shrugged.

Asuma and his companion sighed but nodded.

"Kurenai and I'll go along with it...you've never steered us wrong before," Asuma muttered.

"I am happy to lend you my youthful passion at any time or place, Kakashi!"

"Thanks," the silver-haired man nodded. "So who's buying breakfast?"

* * *

The floor creaked quietly as a set of booted feet crossed the worn wooden planks; the door opened and closed softly a few steps later. Sakura glanced over at the beds next to hers; Naruto was still out cold, sprawled in his blankets comfortably, and Sasuke's bed was empty.

Sighing, she pushed herself to her feet and stepped into her boots, pulling on Naruto's duster over her nightclothes and hurrying off out the door.

"Sasuke," she called quietly from the back door; he was a few yards away, fully dressed and nearly to the stable.

He came to a halt, his shoulders squaring sharply.

"Go back to bed, Sakura."

"Only if you do."

His fists clenched.

"...why are you doing this, Sasuke?" she asked quietly. "Even if you find them, do you think they're just going to sit back and watch you fight Itachi?"

He remained silent.

A sudden thought hit her and her own fists clenched.

"You're going to ride in there with a white flag and challenge him to a duel."

His hand came to rest on the grip of his revolver.

"So what if I am?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"You'll die." She took a step toward him, and then another. "Naruto already had this conversation with you. He told me. How you were going to take off and he had to drag you away and steal your gun to stop you."

Sasuke's only reply was to turn his head to the side to look at her sidelong.

"I didn't think things were too bad the way they've been going...I love living with you and Naruto, you know. Is it really worth it to go out there and risk losing it? You know they won't just let you live even if you do kill Itachi." She took another couple steps. "Do you really care so little for us? It'd kill Naruto. Kakashi would be so disappointed..."

His lips pressed into a thin line, the faint moonlight throwing his features into sharp relief.

"I know you think we don't get it...and maybe that's true, but Sasuke...we want to help you. Let us, please...we'll go after Itachi together if you're this determined. But don't run off on a suicide mission. It's not worth it." She tugged the coat a bit closer around her shoulders; it was chilly at night on the prairie.

"...it's my responsibility," he muttered finally, his gaze shifting to the moon.

"This isn't a very responsible way to handle it."

He shifted slightly, turning to let him direct his gaze back at her more fully; she could still see the anger and the tension.

"You've already left us behind once, Sasuke..." she reminded him. "Maybe you're meant to share this burden. With us. Because we'll never desert you, Sasuke. We'll never use you like that gang. You can trust us..."

His fists clenched again and he turned toward the stable once more, and she caught her breath and reached out to grab him (she was standing within arm's reach by now), but he just kept turning, until he had stepped into her and pulled her up against him silently. She blinked, slightly shocked, and slowly wrapped her arms around him in response, afraid to make the wrong move and send him running off.

"Thank you, Sakura."

She stiffened and braced herself automatically as she felt his hand come up (he'd thanked her the last time he'd left, too, just before he'd knocked her out and left her on her front porch), but it only smoothed over her sleep-mussed pink hair once before he stepped around her and strode back up the stairs to the door of their living quarters.

He paused with his hand on the knob.

"...you coming?"

Sakura shook her head once sharply to unfreeze and then hurried up after him.

* * *

Sasuke sighed silently through his nose, staring down at the pink head buried into his chest; he'd tugged her to his bed with him, further confusing her, and she'd settled with him silently. His eyes flickered over to the blonde form on the other bed, snoring loudly and drooling all over the pillow he was wrapped around, and he sighed again.

He'd never understand the effect those two had on him. Especially after his first disastrous attempt to strike out on his own; rejoining them after traveling with Kakashi had felt like slipping into a cool bath after a day out riding in the desert.

Sakura with her devotion and her fiery temper and her apparent need to take care of him and Naruto like some kind of oddly-colored mother hen.

Naruto with his always sunny disposition and his idiocy and his stupid grin and the way he seemed to care so much it hurt.

His fit of rage had died down a little when Naruto had confronted him, cooling from a raging inferno to a molten glow, and Sakura's intervention had quenched it. For an instant, he'd seen himself the way he'd been four years ago, the self that would have killed both of them just to get them out of his way, and it'd stopped him dead when he realized that his hand had strayed to his gun as she kept talking. He didn't want to be that person anymore; he hated that person, in fact. The instant he'd chosen to go with Kakashi, he'd come to that realization.

Seeing Itachi again so suddenly, watching him ride through Sasuke's town with his little gang like he owned the place, had unbalanced him. As he looked down at the tangled pink locks again and then back at the blonde mess, he swore to himself that it wouldn't happen again.

He wouldn't let his brother win this time.

* * *

Naruto yawned awake fairly early the next morning, scratching at himself absently as he headed for the bathroom. He paused as he passed Sakura's bed and noticed it was empty.

_Huh?_

Mouth opening to call out, the words died in his throat as he caught sight of the way Sakura was bundled up in Sasuke's arms, his face buried in her hair as he slept, curled around her almost protectively.

Naruto blinked once, then twice, mouth still open.

_...Oh._

He stood there staring, something in his chest tightening more and more the more he watched.

_Oh. _

He rubbed at the tightness and turned slowly away, slipping into the bathroom.

_Maybe she _is_ his._

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys. I'm rather amazed that I've been getting so many responses to this story. Thanks a lot for the support. **

**-Anyway, this was a sort of introspective chapter and I have a tendency to ramble on and get off topic with such things, so if some of it seems disjointed, that's probably why. I'm happy to accept constructive criticism. **

**-On another note: Sasuke. I hate him sometimes. I really do. The little bastard is so freaking hard to get right. I felt like his little spat with Naruto ended a bit abruptly. Naruto planted the seeds of 'why you're an idiot for leaving' in his brain, but he didn't complete the talk no jutsu. So I figured Sasuke would still be stewing, and I brought in Sakura to finish the job. My aim was for his decision to stop throwing a fit to be a bit of a team effort, whether Sakura and Naruto realize that or not. Also, for those who would argue that the talk no jutsu didn't stop him from leaving the first time in the series, you're right! Congrats! It **_**didn't**_** stop him the first time here, either. We're dealing with a more mature Sasuke, one who's already been through Orochimaru and found out that that path wasn't gonna cut it. Thus, I feel justified in my handling of the situation…sort of. Meh. **

**-Love triangle?! What? I know. For those of you who hate love triangles, don't worry. So do I. I despise them, **_**especially**_** Sasuke x Sakura x Naruto love triangles. It'll be okay, though. I promise. (Though I don't mind SasuSakuNaru as a pairing...cough cough…) **

**-I'm really sorry for writing such a long note. It just happened. **

**Thanks for reading as always and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"You sure this is gonna work? Seems pretty crazy to Tobi."

"As much as I hate to agree with the lunatic, I agree with the lunatic, yeah," the blonde man nodded, striding along with the rest of the group.

Kisame smirked slightly to himself.

"You've never watched Itachi work before, have you, Deidara?" he questioned, his tone almost mocking. "It's terrifyingly effective." He grinned as he said it, revealing unnervingly sharp canines. "And funny as hell."

"Tobi still thinks this is crazy."

"Hypnotism is just some cheap parlor trick. It doesn't actually work," Deidara grumbled. "And it's gonna be a royal pain to get outta here when he fails, yeah."

"Fine. Itachi and I will finish the job ourselves. I'm happy to take your share of the profit," Kisame shrugged.

Deidara huffed and looked away from the big man, instead directing his attention to the man in question. For his part, Itachi hadn't said a word; he barely seemed to be paying them any attention at all, though that was his usual shtick.

It was silent apart from a few random Tobi comments ("Ooh! Look at that cactus!" "Oooh, Deidara, look! Her hair is almost as pretty as yours!") as they made their way into the city and then to the newly constructed train station; the first few trains had already gone through successfully, so naturally, the place was packed with Konoha's wealthy, all eager to buy their way into a trip to the ocean.

Deidara glanced at Itachi, his hands fingering the cherry bombs in his pockets anxiously. He wasn't scared of any of the possible resistance they could encounter if the wrong people (say, a marshal or four) found them, but he also didn't fancy having an entire city on red alert and after them. Then again, the idea did have a certain..._exhilarating_ appeal to it.

He shook his head slightly to dislodge the gleeful thoughts of terrorism and refocus on the task at hand as Itachi strode purposefully up to a conductor who was clearly just about to step onto the last of the passenger cars. He saw Itachi's hand rest on his shoulder and the man turn, and he saw their gazes lock and Itachi's lips move as he spoke; the man looked utterly jaded for a second before seeming to snap back to awareness.

Itachi waved them after him as he boarded the train lithely; the conductor didn't even seem to be aware of their presence as they passed him by.

_What is with this guy?_

Tobi waved cheerily as he bounced past the conductor and the man didn't even bat an eyelash; it was as if he was looking through him.

Deidara frowned and hurried after his group, settling into the only empty compartment as the conductor outside blew a whistle and gave the last call.

"What'd you say to him, yeah?" he demanded as soon as the compartment door was closed, eyeing the dark-haired man suspiciously.

Itachi gave him a look that seemed to indicate he found his question about as interesting as the fleck of dirt he was meticulously brushing off of the sleeve of his duster.

"I merely told him not to notice us."

Deidara only looked more confused (and therefore, annoyed).

"People don't just _do_ stuff like that, yeah."

Itachi arched a single eyebrow, an intense expression of emotion from the blank young man.

"They do when _I_ tell them to." With that, he turned to stare out the window as the train started to move, ignoring Deidara and everyone else completely.

"Wow! Itachi must be magic!" Tobi exclaimed, clapping his hands together excitedly.

Grimacing, Deidara looked away; he'd never liked the Uchiha to begin with, from the moment he'd laid eyes on him. He'd chucked a couple of lit sticks of dynamite at him when they'd first met just for being such an uptight looking bastard, and he'd shot the fuses off both before they could get within a foot of him. Deidara hadn't even seen him draw his gun. And now, besides his ridiculous reflexes and sharp-shooter's eyes, he could make people do whatever he wanted just by talking to them. It unsettled him, though he'd never in a thousand years admit it.

Tobi and Kisame played cards and Deidara messed with some of the 'art supplies' he'd brought with him while Itachi stared out the window silently, until the latter pulled a pocket watch from his vest and checked the time.

"It's midnight," he said, getting to his feet.

They all nodded and rose.

"Remember. This is a stealth operation. Do not leave any trace. I will go ahead of you and find the remaining staff who are awake. If you wake one of the passengers, you must keep them silent and then wait for me to deal with them. Give me fifteen minutes, and then get to work," he relayed, his tone quiet and efficient; the only time he seemed to speak this much (to Deidara and Tobi's knowledge) was on the job.

The slender man slipped out of the compartment and they pulled canvas bags from their coats. Fifteen minutes later, Kisame nodded to the other two and they all three slid through the door and got to work.

* * *

"I don't understand how this happened," Asuma grunted, dropping a freshly-bought newspaper on the table in Tipsy Nin's private parlor; the headline read: ROBBERY ON THE RAILS!

"We were watching the train the whole night! There is no way they could have slipped past our youthful vigilance!" Gai exclaimed, looking equally irked.

"It gets weirder. None of the conductors or the passengers claim to have seen anyone resembling Akatsuki. In fact, none of them were aware that the heist had occurred until the following morning," Asuma continued grimly.

"Had to have been an inside job, then," Kurenai said, her eyes flicking across the lines of text. "They wait until everyone's asleep and then sneak in and take what they can."

"Everyone on the train, including the staff, was reportedly searched by outside authorities as soon as they got to their destination, as was the train itself. The stolen articles were nowhere to be found," Asuma read.

"Perhaps they threw it out the window to be picked up at a later time?"

"We would have seen anyone out riding last night in the plausible pickup areas," Gai disagreed.

"But what if they dropped it out of our range?" Kurenai argued.

"If they are still hiding in those hills, I would have seen them coming back," Asuma put in.

"'If'. But there's a fair chance they aren't hiding there anymore."

Kakashi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing over at Jiraiya.

"D'you think...?" he muttered as the others continued discussing. "His cousin sure had the touch. And his father."

A distasteful look came over the man's face, but he sighed.

"It's possible. The whole family was known for being quite charismatic when they wanted to be, and they all had the will for it. But I didn't think he'd have had time to learn it before..."

"Shisui would have taught him anything," Kakashi muttered. "They were close, according to..." His hand rose to touch the scar over his left eye.

Jiraiya sighed again.

"That's going to complicate things greatly."

"What are you two whispering about?" Asuma questioned, arching a brow.

"Just theorizing," Kakashi said.

"We can't know for sure how they managed it until we have a few more facts," Jiraiya put in. "I think we should call in a few more eyes and keep watching for the time being. I know we're stretched pretty thin, but I know a few people in Suna who will help, and if we can get in contact with Genma's posse, we should be able to cover nearly the entire rail from here to Kiri."

"What an operation," Asuma sighed, lighting up and taking a soothing drag.

Kakashi couldn't help but agree.

_I'm gonna need more coffee...Hope the brats are doing all right on their end..._

* * *

"So lemme get this straight. You think the three of us should go after Itachi on our own, even though Kakashi said specifically not to get involved and Sasuke couldn't even take the guy down with three to one odds?" Naruto grinned fiercely. "Sounds like a plan. When do we leave?"

"Hold on, Naruto," Sakura said quickly; they were too much alike sometimes. For all that Sasuke played the cool-headed strategist, he was just as impulsive as Naruto at times. "We're not just going to go rushing into this blind. We have to make a plan. Somehow, we have to separate him from the rest of the group."

"How're we gonna do that? If it was Old Man Jiraiya, I'd say you should just wear one of those dresses and flash a little thigh while ya dance the cancan, but if he's related to the bastard, I doubt that'll work," Naruto cackled, dodging her punch and glancing at Sasuke; there was something else in his eyes behind the amusement, however, as he turned back to Sakura.

"Shut up, loser. This is serious," Sasuke muttered, frowning a little deeper than usual at his friend's antics; he hadn't liked that look in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...seriously, though. The guy doesn't seem to have any weaknesses, so there's nothin' we can use as bait to draw him out. They don't seem to hang around the cities, so it's not like we can slip him something."

"That's the point of this discussion, Naruto. So we can brainstorm and think of something," Sakura said pointedly, rolling her eyes at him; her gaze caught a bit of dust on Sasuke's dark vest and she absently reached out to brush it off.

"Hehe...right...I'm just sayin', is all." He rubbed the back of his head and looked out the window.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, frowning; since when was he so...uncomfortable around them?

"...is everything all right, Naruto?" Sakura asked, waving a hand in front of his face to catch his attention.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course. You managed to talk Sasuke out of being a moody idiot. Why wouldn't it be?" He laughed a little.

"...this is about this morning," Sasuke stated rather than asked, crossing his arms as he glanced between the other two.

"What? I don't even know what you're talkin' about," Naruto blustered, looking away again. Neither of the others missed the faintly hurt expression in his eyes, however.

Sakura sighed heavily.

"Naruto..."

"What? It's no big deal. I'm glad you guys are finally gettin' it together. The tension between you two gets downright stifling sometimes, ya know?" he grinned, winking in an unconvincing manner; he was always a shitty liar.

"No one said we were together, Naruto," Sakura muttered, though her eyes flickered to Sasuke uncertainly.

He was staring at Naruto, his expression unreadable.

"...Naruto," he said finally. "Anything that happens between us doesn't change a thing..." His lips pursed and his expression became one of someone who has just taken a bite of a lemon. "...We're never going to not want you around."

Sakura nodded her agreement, sensing that Sasuke's "words relating to feelings" quota was drying up fast, and caught one of his big, calloused hands in her own.

"We both-

"Hey, hey! Naruto! Have you seen the paper?! A train got robbed by a ghost!"

Konohamaru entered the room and the conversation with all the grace of a cannon ball, skidding to a halt against the desk with a newspaper clutched in his hands.

"What?" Sasuke questioned sharply, snatching the paper up.

SPECTRAL SNATCHERS ON THE LOOSE: WHOLE TRAIN LOOTED WITHOUT A TRACE!

"Yeah! All the valuables and stuff just disappeared and they couldn't find the person who did it anywhere! Even though the marshals were supposedly watchin' the train the whole night!"

Sakura and Naruto leaned over his shoulder to read with him, eyes slightly wide.

"How is that even possible?" Naruto frowned. "If Kakashi and his posse were watchin' it, there's no way they did it on horseback."

"It would have been tough but not impossible," Sakura argued. "They can only watch so much of the track...and who knows how many people he could round up by last night. He just got there yesterday morning."

Sasuke was quiet, reading and rereading the details of the heist and thinking. He could think of a way they could have done it with his brother's help, and his mind was racing.

"...think they'll try it again?" Naruto was asking, frowning.

"We don't even know if it was Akatsuki, you know. It could be someone else. Probably an insider."

"It was Akatsuki," Sasuke said firmly, setting the paper down; there was a faint smirk playing at the corner of this mouth. "And I know how to get Itachi on his own."

"What? Really?" Naruto questioned, surprised.

"How?" Sakura asked, arching a brow; his expression was almost worrisome.

"We're going on a little trip," he said, dropping the newspaper on the desk and picking up his hat; he turned and headed for the door, pausing to flick Konohamaru a coin from his pocket in thanks.

"Where are you going?" Naruto demanded, he and Sakura hurrying to follow him as he mounted his horse.

"Konoha. We've got a train to catch."

* * *

**A/N: Whew. This thing is getting downright crazy. The characters won't get out of my head. They all want scenes. ;p It's great, though. I haven't had this much fun writing in a sadly long time. Anyway. Ahem.**

**-Itachi is a master hypnotist. Because I wasn't going to give anyone any technically 'supernatural' powers, and because the Sharingan had to be addressed somehow. I believe I've heard it described as 'the hypnotic eye' before, so there ya go. Also, hypnotism is actually quite plausible in reality. It's a little scary actually. Of course, I'm stretching it a bit here, but that's what fiction is for, right? **

**-Akatsuki's plans are clearly moving faster than Kakashi expected. (And faster than I expected, but the idea came and it felt right so it happened. Bleargh.) I'm working on a deeper part to their dastardly plot, so hopefully it will keep getting better from here. **

**-Naruto feels left out. They are his two best friends in the world, after all. (Again, I promise there won't be a love triangle.) And of course, Konohamaru had to interrupt their 'feels' talk (I like that boy; he's good for interruptions). **

**-I'm out of relevant notes, but I'm still typing, so I suppose I'll tell you what I listened to for this chapter: Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes; Ride Like the Wind – Christopher Cross; Seishun Kyousoukyoku – Sambomaster; and, somewhat embarrassingly, Hypnotic – Zella Day (which I came across by accident while surfing youtube for an appropriate soundtrack song; it just stuck). **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

Sasuke held out a hand.

"Cough it up, Naruto."

"What?! Are you kiddin' me?! That's half my savings!"

"Tough." Sasuke curled his fingers in and out a few times impatiently.

"I was savin' up for that new pistol! And we don't even know they're gonna be on this train!" Naruto protested, cradling his wallet protectively.

"If you're coming with us, then you're going to chip in," Sasuke said, arching a brow at him.

"Eh-heh...if you'll just excuse us for a moment," Sakura directed at the man behind the ticket counter they were currently clustered in front of; he was starting to look a bit nervous. She grabbed both of them by the ear and dragged them away and around a corner, out of sight of most of the platform. "You idiots! You're going to get us arrested!"

"He's tryin' to steal all my money, Sakura!"

"I thought it was a team effort, idiot."

"Shut up, both of you!" the pinkette snapped, grinding her teeth. "Naruto, by some miracle, you have the most money out of all of us and those tickets aren't cheap. We've already pitched in all we can."

The blonde sulked for a moment before handing over his wallet (to Sakura; he didn't trust Sasuke not to loot it just to irritate him).

"I guess..." He shook his head slightly and snapped out of his funk. "But my point still stands. What if they're not planning on hitting this train tonight? I mean, they just robbed one yesterday."

"It would be riskier for them to wait, unless they want to wait at least a month for things to cool down again," Sasuke replied. "Right now, there's still a lot of confusion over how they did it. They can use that to their advantage."

"Hm...I suppose," Naruto huffed, nodding and straightening up. He glanced around carefully. "So...how's the plan coming?"

"Working on it," Sasuke muttered curtly. "Let's get those tickets before they're sold out."

Naruto sweat-dropped slightly but followed them back to the ticket line; the bastard didn't even know what they were going to do once they found his brother yet? Then again, Naruto himself wasn't exactly the king of intricate plans...he preferred to make things up as he went. It just seemed that a situation this delicate probably deserved some thinking, which was usually Sasuke and Sakura's department.

A few minutes later, they had their tickets and had settled off to one side of the platform to wait; the over-night train wasn't due until about an hour before sundown, and it was noon.

Naruto stoked his depleted wallet a bit sadly, his stomach rumbling.

"Let's go get something to eat, guys. It's better than hanging out here," he said, getting up from the bench they'd settled on.

They glanced at each other and then shrugged.

"I guess."

"Sure."

The trio ambled out of the station and along the fancy cobbled streets until they reached the dustier, less high-class section of Konoha and came across a decent looking saloon. Within fifteen minutes, they were seated and chowing down on the hardy food offered by such establishments.

"Ah...that hit the spot," Naruto sighed, leaning back in his chair comfortably and resting his hands behind his head.

"It was pretty good," Sakura nodded, laying her napkin over her empty plate neatly.

Sasuke merely grunted, seeming lost in thought; Naruto nudged his foot with his own under the table, and then, when he didn't react and for the fun of it, he dragged the toe of his boot up from his heel along his ankle and calf, pushing the leg of his pants up. Predictably, he snapped at him, thumping him in the chest and kicking his foot away, a surprisingly perturbed expression on his face.

"I'm thinking. Stop bothering me," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Naruto snickered.

"I know it takes a lot of concentration for ya, ba-ow, Sakura," he pouted, rubbing at the shin she'd just kicked.

"This is not the time or place," she said, even though she did look mildly amused. "We can't risk getting in trouble." Her eyes rolled slightly and fixed on his whisker-marked cheek, and she picked up his napkin and wiped away a bit of gravy from the corner of his mouth.

She'd done things like that probably a million times before, but it'd never made him flush and glance over at Sasuke the way it did now. Curiously, Sasuke was staring back at him, or more accurately, at Sakura's fingers on the napkin over his skin.

Naruto shifted slightly and Sakura seemed to realize the sudden awkward as her fingers lingered and backed off, clearing her throat and tossing the napkin on the table with her own.

"So. The plan?" she said, breaking the weirdly tense silence.

Sasuke blinked once or twice as though coming out of a daze.

"Working on it..." he repeated, reaching to take a drink from his mug.

Sakura arched her eyebrows.

"...Sasuke, you do have a plan, right?"

Irritation flickered across his face.

"What is there to plan? We get on the train. We find him. I shoot him. End of story."

"You don't think he'll fight back? What if someone gets caught in the cross-fire? If it's just him, we won't get in trouble, what with the bounty, but what if one of the passengers gets hurt?" Naruto questioned, frowning to himself.

"What do you propose we do, then?" Sasuke countered. "Throw him off the train?"

"Well...we could all jump off," Sakura said, shrugging slightly. "And that way if he has backup, they can't get involved," she added.

"That's gonna hurt," Naruto commented, but he didn't seem to mind the idea.

"Maybe if we time it right it won't be so bad," she reasoned. "If we could wait until we find a bend in the track, the train should slow down a little."

Sasuke frowned but nodded slightly reluctantly.

"He's not just going to let us shove him off a train, though," he said. "If we manage to get him into that kind of a position, we might as well just save time and bruises and shoot him then."

Sakura glanced at Naruto a bit uneasily.

"...Sasuke? Er...how would you feel about maybe...not just killing him?" she questioned tentatively.

His face immediately clouded over, his expression thunderous.

"What do you suggest we do with him then, Sakura?"

The other two glanced at each other again.

"Well...I mean, if we could capture him alive, we can still collect the bounty by bringing him in..." Naruto said.

"And maybe we could use him to take out the rest of Akatsuki," Sakura continued. "If we handed him over to Kakashi and they get him to talk, they coul-

"That wasn't the plan," Sasuke growled, his expression angry and almost betrayed as he glared at them.

"But think about it, bastard! We could take down the entire gang this way!" Naruto argued, stubborn and determined.

"And...don't get mad at me, Sasuke, but...I don't think killing him is going to make you feel all that good," Sakura added quietly.

His fists clenched, knuckles white.

"It's not-

"Shit! Down!" Naruto hissed, reaching over and pushing both of their heads down.

"What the hell?"

"Naru-

"Sh! Kakashi," he hissed, dropping right out of his chair and dragging Sakura (the closest to him) with him under the table; Sasuke settled beside him a second later.

"...don't know how you can be so awake, Gai."

"My youthful fire burns at all hours of the day, Kakashi!"

"Yeah, but we've been up all night...did you really need to wake me up and drag me..."

Their voices slowly moved out of range again and they all relaxed; the marshal would beat all three of them senseless if he found out what they were up to, and then he'd give them one of those disappointed looks (possibly worse than the beating) and lecture them on responsibility and duty and not being hotheaded idiots.

Sakura peered out from under the checkered table cloth, spotting the man disappearing into a back room with what looked like another marshal.

"Coast is clear. Let's get out of here," she said, leaving money on the table.

The waitress gave them a resignedly scandalized look as the other two crawled out from under the table, muttering something about having to clean up; they all three flushed faintly and hurried out of the saloon.

"...well. At least we've already had our close-call for the day. Everything's gotta go smooth from here, right?" Naruto grinned a bit sheepishly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands in his pockets and Sakura giggled a bit nervously as they hurried down the street to find somewhere safer to wait. The tension had been dispelled by the marshal's appearance.

"...whatever," Sasuke muttered as they settled in a shaded alley not too far from the station. "But if it looks like your plan is failing, I'm going to shoot him."

The other two sighed slightly in relief, glancing at each other; they hadn't fancied the thought of killing the man, especially in cold blood the way Sasuke's plans had been indicating they should.

"It'll work. It's us after all. What could go wrong?"

Sasuke and Sakura directed 'looks' at the blonde.

"What?"

* * *

"I think we should put someone on the train," Kakashi suggested, settling back away from his now-empty plate and crossing his arms comfortably.

"Yeah?" Genma, chewing a bit of straw and readjusting his ever-present bandana over his long hair, grunted. "Why?"

Their group had grown substantially since the runner they'd sent out to find the other group of marshals had located them on their way back to Konoha for supplies. Genma and his three pals, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Raidou had joined their ranks, and according to Jiraiya, his contacts in Suna had come through and were planning on patrolling their half of the rails. This meant that they could now cover virtually the entire track from Konoha to Suna and halfway to Kiri (the train's final destination).

"Just a hunch I have," he replied, shrugging. "They've got to have inside help to pull off something like this without a trace. Whoever gets on the train can watch out for it."

Jiraiya stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"It's not a bad idea. I think you should do it, Kakashi," he said. "I'll handle coordinating the patrols."

"You think it's a good idea to go into it alone? What if there's more than one?" Kurenai asked, arching a brow.

"This _is_ Kakashi we're talking about," Genma said mildly. "And besides, if it's just one crooked conductor or something, anyone could handle it."

"I'll be careful, Kurenai," Kakashi smiled slightly. "You all need to focus on making sure no one gets on or off that train before they're supposed to."

The woman still looked worried, but she nodded her assent after a moment. Jiraiya caught up to him as their planning session disbanded and they separated to rest until they had to move out, setting a hand on his shoulder.

"Be on your guard. If we're right..." His mouth settled in a grim line. "There'll probably be backup."

Kakashi nodded, equally serious.

"If there are too many, I'll wait until we reach the station to confront them. Tell everyone to watch for three flashes; if I need backup, that'll be ready at the station in Suna."

Jiraiya nodded.

"And if you get into trouble?"

Kakashi shrugged.

"I'll think of something. I usually do."

* * *

"Two nights in a row...you don't think they're gonna be expecting, yeah?" Deidara muttered as they made their way across the platform; once again, he and Tobi had drawn the short straws and been sent to back up Itachi and Kisame.

"Sure they are. But they've got no clue how we did it. So they won't know how to protect themselves," Kisame rolled his eyes. "They're like frightened rabbits. Easy prey."

"Hmph. Still seems risky, yeah."

"The amount Deidara complains about these jobs makes Tobi wonder if Deidara is afraid to get caught," Tobi said innocently; he patted the blonde's elbow soothingly. "It's okay, Deidara. Tobi thinks the marshals are scary, too."

"You little-I'm not scared, yeah," he growled.

"Quiet. You'll draw attention," Itachi said suddenly, and they immediately fell silent, Deidara glaring at everyone (especially the Uchiha).

A few minutes later, Itachi had spoken to the conductor and they were seated in a compartment in the last passenger car.

"And now we wait," Kisame sighed, digging a deck of cards from his pocket and starting to deal hands for him and Tobi.

"And now Tobi wins more of Kisame's money," the other man said, and Kisame swore he was grinning under that stupid orange bandana.

"Yeah, yeah..."

* * *

"Wow...this is pretty fancy," Naruto remarked as they settled into a compartment.

"Ought to be, what we paid for it," Sakura muttered.

"Yeah, no kidding," the blonde agreed, rubbing the back of his head.

Sasuke grunted and crossed his arms.

"As soon as it gets dark, we need to start trying to keep an eye on the halls," he said, sitting back in his seat.

"Yeah, yeah. We know."

Sasuke wrapped his fingers around his upper arms and took carefully measured breaths; his body was humming with tension and the urge to move, nervous energy coiling in his chest and slowly spreading through his veins. He was so close he could taste it, and he wasn't going to screw it up because he was too jumpy to think.

Sakura and Naruto sighed slightly and exchanged glances.

The Uchiha closed his eyes; they were the other reason he was so anxious. He couldn't live with himself if one of them got hurt.

Unbeknownst to him, the same thoughts were running through their heads.

* * *

Kakashi sighed and settled more comfortably in his seat in the dining car, slouching over the book in his hands; it hadn't taken much to convince the conductors to let him on the train. They were all nervous of another heist.

He glanced out the window as the train started to move and sighed slightly, squinting at the sinking sun. There was about an hour of light left, and then a conceivable three further hours before everyone could safely be assumed to be asleep.

He took a drink of the coffee on the table before him and checked the load on his gun. He had a feeling things were going to get interesting before the night was over.

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter. I'm honestly shocked. **

**-Introducing: the set-up chapter that everyone hates, including me! I'll do my best to have the next chapter up soon, but it might take me a little longer than this one; I have big plans and I wanna get them right. (That being said, this whole fic is happening pretty damn fast, so who knows when it will show up?)**

**-We haven't seen the deeper part of Akatsuki's plans yet. Mostly because I'm still hashing out the details myself, but partially because…um…okay, my reason just disappeared from my brain. I'll let you know if it comes back. **

**-More character cameos, though I didn't have the inclination to write lines for all of them. Perhaps in time. **

**-Not too much progress on our relationships in this chapter, but I want to center this section on the hunt for Itachi, so that'll be why (plus, I didn't start this fic with the intent to center it around pairings (which is weird for me, but there's a first time for everything)).**

**-Songs I listened to while writing this chapter: Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers; To Glory – Two Steps From Hell; random Pandora music on my 30 Seconds To Mars station (look at me getting lazy). **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Please review.**


	7. Chapter 7

"It's midnight." Itachi got to his feet, the compartment going quiet; Kisame gathered his cards and tucked the deck back into his pocket, Tobi stowing his winnings. "Same procedure as before. Leave no trace. Don't be seen. Wait fifteen minutes and then move out."

He left the compartment swiftly.

Deidara shifted slightly and checked the bombs in his pocket; there was a strange sort of tingle in the air, a note of anticipation. Something was going to happen. He could feel it.

* * *

"Let's make another round," Sasuke muttered, glancing out the window. "It's been a while."

"All right." Naruto pushed himself to his feet, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Beside him, Sakura rose as well.

"Remember the plan," she said, glancing between them.

They nodded and Sasuke slid open the door just in time to come up face to face with-

"Kakashi?!" he hissed, jerking back slightly in surprise.

Sakura and Naruto flinched, the man himself arching a brow and then narrowing his eyes as he stepped into the compartment and pulled the door closed behind him.

"What are you three doing here?" he demanded.

"It's none of your business," Sasuke growled, looking away.

"Oh God...No. Not happening. You three stay here, you understand me?" Kakashi ordered. "I'll handle Akatsuki. I told you to keep your noses out of it."

"He's my brother, Kakashi," Sasuke countered, face twisting in a snarl.

Naruto caught his shoulder before he could do anything.

"I know that, Sasuke. But taking revenge won't change anything. The only thing it's likely to do is get you killed," Kakashi said firmly, some of the irritation in his eyes fading. "Just try to get some sleep. We'll discuss this when we get to the station. Stay here. I mean it." He gave them all a look that promised a chewing-out later and then stepped out of the compartment again.

Sasuke clenched his fists and glared at the door, Sakura and Naruto seeming slightly frozen beside him. Nobody moved for about two minutes, and then Naruto stepped forward and peered out, looking up and down the hallway.

"He's gone. We movin' out?" he asked over his shoulder.

Sakura bit her lip; if he caught them again, he'd be livid...but...

Sasuke was already out the door.

With a sigh and a head shake, she loosened her pistols at her sides and followed, Naruto bringing up the rear.

Itachi stepped away from the barkeep in the dining car, the man polishing glasses and rearranging his liquor bottles meticulously and suddenly completely oblivious to his presence. He took out his watch; ten more minutes, and only one more conductor and the engineer to convince there was nothing going on on the train.

He was on a roll tonight.

Slipping open the large window next to one of the dining booths, he levered himself out, catching his feet firmly on the running board along the bottom of the train. He closed the window carefully behind him and then started edging along the train, using the ridge that formed the seam between the roof and walls for hand holds. This way, he could avoid the marshal he'd noticed on the platform until he was ready to confront the man.

About four minutes later, the engineer and conductor who'd been keeping him company had been successfully hypnotized and he was making his way back down the train, through the main corridor this time. The marshal was the last on his list, and he needed to get to him before the rest of his team or there would be a mess and it would be his fault.

Hearing footsteps approaching as he made it into the car just behind the dining car, he stepped into the alcove created by the door to a compartment, hand straying to his gun as he cleared his mind in preparation to catch the marshal (the only one likely to still be wandering) under his spell.

The footsteps grew steadily closer and closer, and he noted with some irritation that there were three sets of them; he'd told his team to wait, and they were four minutes ahead of schedule.

He opened his mouth, drawing in breath, with the intent to catch whoever passed him first by the shoulder and admonish them, when the first person passed him by and he froze.

_What...?_

Stilling completely, he watched as the achingly familiar form took another step and a pink haired girl came into view behind him, and then a blonde boy.

_Clever of you to figure it out...but foolish of you to come here so impulsively._

He reached out to grab Naruto's shoulder, his revolver already in his other hand.

_Sorry, little brother...not this time._

* * *

Kakashi sighed to himself as he slipped back into the last of the passenger cars; he'd gone to inspect the cargo hold, just to be safe. He was still irritated, but resignedly so; he should have known the brats would never have been able to stay out of it. Sasuke was too determined, and Sakura and Naruto were too stubborn to let him go off on his own again. He could only hope that they'd listen to him this time and stay in their compartment.

Worried as he was about his three knuckleheads, he failed to peer through the little glass window set in the door between the two cars and opened it to find himself blinking owlishly at a very different trio.

"Uh."

"Oooh! A marshal! Tobi wants an autograph!"

"Shut up, Tobi. I thought Itachi had put everyone out, yeah?"

The big guy, who he recognized as Kisame Hoshigaki, merely grinned.

"It looks like he left me a little treat. Get to work, you two. This'll only take a minute," he ordered, his grin turning nasty as he drew a wicked looking knife from a sheath at his belt.

The other two huffed and nodded, heading off toward the sleeper cars.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and drew his gun.

"Sure that's the one you want to use?" he questioned coolly.

Kisame laughed.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

* * *

Naruto jerked and yelped as he was yanked around, coming face to face with none other than Itachi Uchiha. The man's dark eyes caught his own, seeming to draw him in, inviting him to sink into their depths and surrender himself.

"Sleep, Naruto," a smooth, baritone voice instructed him, and he found his lids growing heavier, his mind blanking.

Sure, he thought. Why not? He was tired anyway, what with Sasuke-bastard keeping him-keeping-Sasuke? He was supposed to be doing something...

He heard a shout and saw/felt/heard Sakura crumpling to the ground next to him, and Sasuke thumbing the hammer on his revolver, and the clatter as it was knocked away.

He just wanted to sleep, just like that nice voice had told him to...but that didn't seem right. As if in his peripherals, he was aware of Sasuke swinging a haymaker at...at...Itachi? Sasuke was fighting Itachi. Without him. Because he was sleeping...because Itachi had told him to?!

Feeling like he was underwater, he clenched his fist and brought it around to punch himself in the forehead hard. The fog in his brain suddenly vanished, disappearing in the wake of the pain. He shook his head once and then growled and threw himself forward, stepping over a feebly stirring Sakura to catch Itachi in an awkward flying tackle and slam them both against the door to the train car.

The man grunted as he impacted the sturdy wood, hand scrabbling across the surface for a bare second before he found the knob and then they were both tumbling through to the narrow walkway between the cars. He twisted as they fell to land on top of Naruto, knocking the breath out of him.

Naruto snarled and clung on, his arms tight around the man's chest.

"No you don't," he growled.

Sasuke was extricating himself from the compartment door he'd been thrown through, and he looked livid as he regained his equilibrium and approached the two.

Itachi gripped his right hand, the one holding his revolver, in his left and formed a cradle out of his arms; he swung to the left and then snapped his right elbow back around to drive it into Naruto's ribs with an incredible amount of force. Naruto gasped as he felt something crack, his grip loosening ever so slightly. The other man took the opportunity presented and scrambled free, hauling him upright after him; the cool barrel of his gun pressed to the hollow beneath the corner of his jaw.

"That's enough, Sasuke," Itachi said firmly, Sasuke coming to a halt barely two feet away, his hands clenching into fists that shook with rage. "I don't have time to deal with you right now. Go back to your compartment. Take the girl with you," he ordered.

"Let him go," Sasuke snarled. "This is between you and me!"

"Yes. It is. But as I said, I do not have time to deal with this properly right now. Do as I said, Sasuke," he replied calmly, thumbing the hammer on his gun. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

The younger man's eyes widened slightly and he laughed, the sound tinged with hysteria.

"That's rich, coming from _you_, Itachi!"

Naruto struggled slightly and Itachi pressed the gun harder, his fingers wrapping around his throat a little tighter almost absently.

"Perhaps. But there is much you do not understand, little brother. Please, do as I said." His tone didn't change.

"No," he spat, glaring venomously.

Itachi cocked the gun.

"Please, Sasuke."

Naruto kicked feebly, his face slowly passing red and heading toward purple.

"Let him go and face me like a man," Sasuke demanded; his eyes flickered away from his brother's face and to Naruto's, the faintest hint of panic joining the mix of pained rage.

"Sasuke..." Itachi sighed, almost tiredly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

There was a sharp crack and a burst of light from the barrel, and Naruto flinched and Sasuke cried out, stepping forward. He froze, looking down at his suddenly on fire arm and the blood that was starting to well from the neat little hole in his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. But I did tell you."

Naruto went suddenly slack against his front and he released his grip, letting the unconscious blonde crumple to the floor. The hand holding his pistol came up, reversing his grip on the weapon easily to bring the butt down on Sasuke's neck.

His brow arched in surprise as a hand snapped up and caught his wrist.

"No...not again," Sasuke rasped, his left arm dangling loosely at his side; he was panting, probably from the shock of the wound and his rage.

"Stop getting in my way if you expect this to stop." Itachi brought his free hand around to drive into his kidney.

Sasuke choked but clung on tightly, even as he doubled forward slightly reflexively. Itachi stepped around him, wrapping his free arm around his neck and forcing Sasuke's arm to twist awkwardly to keep a hold on him.

"You _killed _them...why would you do that?" Sasuke gasped, struggling against his brother's iron grip.

"You _assumed_ that I killed them," Itachi corrected, his voice barely a whisper. "As did everyone else."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"What-what are you saying?!"

Itachi's arm constricted slightly around his neck.

"I-

And icy barrel pressed to the back of his neck.

"Let go of him."

The elder Uchiha sighed. This was getting really tiresome, and he was ten minutes behind schedule by now.

* * *

"Damn it," Kakashi growled, ducking and weaving around the man to avoid another couple of slashes aimed at cutting his throat and gutting him respectively.

Kisame laughed again.

"You are quick, aren't you? You really live up to your reputation, Hatake."

Kakashi aimed another shot at his heart and, for the third time, the man brought up his knife and deflected it.

"This is going to get boring quickly though, if all you're going to do is shoot at me and dodge," the big man smirked, slashing at him again. "And we're on a tight schedule. I'll have to kill you quickly."

Kakashi danced out of the way once again, grimacing; he was being forced back toward the populated side of the train now, and he didn't want to risk any of the other passengers getting involved. A small part of him was wondering why the kids hadn't come bursting into the hall when they heard the first gunshot, but as he was driven past their compartment, the reason became obvious; it was empty.

He cursed and drew the hefty field knife he kept on his belt; it wasn't as big as Kisame's, but it was sturdy and razor sharp. His gun went back into its holster as they reached the door between the cars.

_Need more room..._

"That's more like it," Kisame grinned as he parried and their hilts locked for a second.

With a monumental effort, he shoved the man back and then flung the door open and stepped out, jumping up to catch the rim of the carriage roof and scrabbling up onto it; he hissed as the man landed a shallow slash along the side of his leg just as he sprawled onto the roof, the wind whipping at his clothes and hair fiercely. He found his feet and his balance and took two steps away just in time for Kisame to appear over the edge.

"This is getting exciting," he smirked around the knife between his teeth, hauling his bulk up onto the roof with ease. His hand closed around the knife again and he licked the blood from the edge.

Kakashi rolled his eyes at the dramatics and got ready to counter his next blow.

* * *

Sakura's voice was like ice, her grip on her gun perfectly steady.

"Let him go, now."

"Or you'll shoot me?" She almost thought he sounded bored.

Sakura cocked her gun in response.

Itachi sighed.

"If you shoot me now, your bullet will go straight through me and impact Sasuke as well. Put the gun down, Sakura."

She bit her lip, realizing that he was right; the shot might be fatal to him, but it would almost definitely be fatal to Sasuke as well.

"Put the gun down and back away. I'm not going to kill him."

"Don't, Sakura," Sasuke croaked.

"Do as I said, Sakura. No further injuries need be sustained."

Sakura hesitated; she knew she wouldn't shoot, especially if it threatened Sasuke's life so directly, but following Itachi's orders felt like giving up.

"It's the wise thing to do. No one will fault you for it," Itachi said smoothly.

Sasuke choked slightly as his arm tightened again, kicking weakly.

Sakura started to lower the gun slowly, and then she brought it whipping around towards his temple with all the strength she could muster.

Itachi let go of Sasuke to duck, apparently anticipating her move, his arm twisting free of his brother's grip and his leg coming back and around to sweep her feet out from under her; he pounced on her, wrestling for control of the gun and steadily overpowering her with his superior weight. He'd just pried the pistol from her fingers when Sasuke kicked it out of his hand again.

He grunted and brought his other fist around to connect with Sakura's temple, stunning her temporarily as he rolled once away from his brother's next kick; he rolled to his feet and latched onto the doorframe with his hands, swinging back and then forward to drive his feet into his brother's stomach powerfully. Sasuke choked and landed on his back, winded.

Itachi took the opportunity clamber lithely onto the roof before any of the teens could attack him further. His eyes caught the two fighting figures near the end of the train and he sighed again.

_This isn't good..._

He glanced back to check on Sasuke and company and found his brother struggling over the edge of the roof, his face still slightly red from being choked and then winded.

"Well, you are persistent, I'll give you that," he muttered, finding his center in preparation for his brother's assault; it was too late now to worry about keeping to the schedule. The gunshots would have woken the train's passengers anyways.

Sasuke growled and charged at him in response.

* * *

Tobi and Deidara were looting rooms opposite each other when the first gunshot rang out. The snoring old man in Deidara's compartment didn't even twitch, though the couple in Tobi's jerked awake; he knocked them both out before they could scream.

"Should we go help, Deidara?" he asked casually as he reemerged into the hall; the bag over his shoulder was already fairly heavy with loot.

Deidara grunted, glancing up and down the hall.

"I think we need to abort. The marshals will have heard that, and I'm sure they'll swarm the train soon enough, yeah."

"Isn't that part of the plan?" Tobi questioned, cocking his head.

"Yeah, but getting caught isn't."

"What about Itachi and Kisame?"

Deidara snorted.

"They're the ones who broke protocol. They can get themselves out of this, yeah." He hefted the bag and headed down the hall, peering out the door to the next car. "We're in Suna territory. If we get off now, we can find Sasori's marshal man and be back in time for breakfast."

"Tobi still thinks Deidara is 'whimping out', but Tobi does like Miss Konan's breakfast." He swung up onto the roof past Deidara. "Let's go then, Deidara."

The blonde man growled and followed him up, and together they leapt off the train, rolling and tumbling until they came to a halt in the sand.

_Let's see you get out of this one, Uchiha._

* * *

"What did you mean?" Sasuke snarled as he swung at his brother. "We 'assumed'? You were standing there with the gun that killed them!"

"Sasuke, this really isn't the time," Itachi replied.

"Shut up! You killed them! I know you did!" He threw himself forward and landed a glancing blow on his brother's shoulder.

"You know many things, little brother, but that doesn't mean all of them are true," Itachi said, catching his next swing. "Everything is as it is for a reason, however. Which is precisely what you don't understand."

"Enlighten me," he hissed, bringing his left hand around to bury into his gut, ignoring the screaming agony that came from the bullet wound.

Itachi coughed slightly but kept his footing, grabbing Sasuke's left hand with his right.

"I cannot."

"Bull shit!" he almost screamed; he was on the edge of hysteria at this point, driven further and further by the things his brother kept hinting. "I'm your brother! What are you not telling me?!"

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment, and he opened his mouth to speak just in time for Naruto to tackle them both off the edge of the train, Sakura leaping after them.

* * *

Kakashi cursed to himself as his peripherals caught sight of the four bodies leaving the train, parrying Kisame's attempt to stab him and returning his full attention to the fight hastily.

"Looks like your buddies have all abandoned ship," he remarked as they fought; he was still holding his own, but he was doing a lot more defending than he was attacking, and he was tiring quickly.

"Is that so?" He swung his empty fist at Kakashi's right and feinted at his left with the knife, earning him a shallow cut across the front of his chest when he didn't react in time. "Well, plans do change, after all."

"What are you doing to do about it?"

Kakashi's boot, soaked with the blood from the wound on his leg, slipped and he tumbled backwards to avoid being eviscerated for it, panting lightly now.

"This," the man shrugged, sheathing his knife and leaping almost gracefully off the edge of the roof; he rolled to a halt in the sand.

Kakashi blinked.

_Oh Christ. The kids._

Swearing fluently, he dove off after Kisame.

* * *

They broke apart as they hit the ground, Sasuke and Itachi slipping out of Naruto's grip at the jarring thud of impact; he forced himself into a roll in an attempt to dissipate some of it, but it still hurt like a bitch (just as he'd predicted).

When he finally stopped rolling, he was mildly dizzy and disoriented and covered in bruises and his cracked ribs felt like a knife in his side, but he struggled to his knees anyway, peering around for the others.

Sakura was just picking herself up from the sand about a yard back from him, Itachi and Sasuke visible as a couple of dark shapes on the ground a few yards in the opposite direction; as he watched, Itachi started to push himself to his feet.

Naruto groaned; what was this guy made of? He staggered upright and found his footing and then started over to them, fist clenching and drawing back as he prepared to attack.

"Stop," Itachi said suddenly without looking at him, making his way to the still unmoving Sasuke's side and kneeling down again beside him.

"Get away from him," Naruto growled, his voice hoarse from being choked; he didn't even slow down.

Itachi ignored him completely, leaning down to press his ear to Sasuke's chest as though listening for...

Naruto staggered to a halt, his eyes wide, just in time to trip over the two men and land sprawled half on top of them; he hastily scrambled off and situated himself at Sasuke's side, placing the back of his hand in front of his friend's mouth and nose. He gave a slight sigh of relief when he felt his breath start to pick up again.

Itachi straightened up at about that time, seeming perhaps very faintly relieved himself as he climbed to his feet.

"You need to get him to a hospital."

"Oh yeah, and how am I supposed to do that?" Naruto snapped, glaring at him and scrambling to his feet as well.

Itachi arched a brow, and for a second, his resemblance to Sasuke was nearly off-putting.

"You're the one who threw us off the train." He turned and started walking away. "I'm sure your marshal friends will be by to pick you up soon enough."

"Where do you think you're going?!" Naruto snarled, throwing himself at him; Itachi was ready for him this time, however, and he sidestepped out of his path.

"That is not your concern."

"Keep walking and I'll put a bullet in your back," Sakura gritted; she'd drawn her second pistol and it was trained steadily on the Uchiha.

Itachi took several slow breaths, almost as though calming himself.

"You won't kill me, Sakura."

"No. But I'll shoot your kneecaps out so fast you won't even have time to blink. Let's see you walk away then."

Itachi looked skyward. Slowly, his hands rose and rested on the back of his head, and he turned to face her.

"Put the knife down, Kisame. We're going with them quietly."

The hulking shadow that had been steadily creeping nearer to the girl came to a halt, but he didn't put down his knife.

"You sure about this, Itachi?"

Itachi sighed.

"Just do it."

Kisame huffed a disgruntled sigh of his own and dropped his blade, mirroring Itachi's position.

Kakashi staggered over to them just as one of the marshals appeared on horseback, approaching fast from the direction the train had been traveling. Itachi and Kisame were kneeling in the sand near an unconscious Sasuke, their hands bound behind their backs while Naruto and Sakura sat guard.

"...well. Damn it," he muttered, holstering his gun. "You three are impossible, you know that?"

Sakura and Naruto shrugged.

"Tell me about it," Itachi said tiredly.

* * *

**A/N: So it's here…I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.**

**-Fight scenes are exhausting to write. Sigh. **

**-Yeah. I had Itachi basically give in in the end. Here's my thinking: there's a good chance that he'd get picked up by the marshals anyways if he just wandered off into the desert. He's a bit battered and tired at this point, and he's let more slip to Sasuke than he'd intended. Aside from that, I have a few extra little twists that contributed to his decision that you'll all find out about soon. **

**-Kisame listens to Itachi unconditionally because I like Kisame and Itachi's partnership. I always had this vibe of loyalty between the two of them, and so that's what I've got going here. I mean, the last person Kisame thought about before he died in canon was Itachi. So…bleargh. **

**-Tobi and Deidara ran away. Partly because Deidara wants to see Itachi fail. Partly because they don't want to get caught. And partly because I have other plans for them, especially "Tobi".**

**-Agh. This chapter is freaking long. I hope it didn't drag on too much. **

**-Writing Playlist: Nameless Heroes – Audiomachine; Archangel – Two Steps From Hell; Make it Hurt – Epic Score; The Protector – James Paget; The Way of Honor – Marcus Warner**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please review. I need the feedback on this one. **

**P.S. – For real this time, the next update will probs take a little while. I have school to think about. **


	8. Chapter 8 - Part 1

_"Shisui?"_

_ "Yeah, Itachi?" His cousin-come-older-brother let his head loll to the side, grinning at him serenely; they were sprawled on a grassy hill in one of the family's pastures._

_ "Will you teach me hypnotism? It seems like everyone can do it. I want to, too," Itachi, nine at the time, replied. _

_ "I dunno...you're a little young, don't ya think?" Shisui replied, arching a brow slightly. "Has your old man not offered to teach you?"_

_ "He's not as good as you," he shrugged. _

_ Shisui sighed slightly and looked back up at the wispy clouds breezing by overhead. _

_ "You sure you wanna know? It can be quite the burden sometimes..."_

_ Itachi sat up, squaring his shoulders. _

_ "Perhaps if I know, they'll stop pretending I can't hear them when they talk about their political games."_

_ The elder Uchiha sighed again, a little longer this time._

_ "You're way too much of an adult for a nine-year-old sometimes, you know that?" _

_ "Yes. You're the only one who takes me seriously, though," Itachi nodded. "You and Kakashi, but he's never around lately."_

_ "Hnn...Well, I suppose. But only on one condition," he said, holding up a finger. "Until you can fully resist my mesmer, this stays our little secret. Got it? I don't want anyone trying to take advantage of you."_

_ "Deal," Itachi nodded again. _

_ "Shake on it." Shisui held out a hand. _

_ Itachi rolled his eyes but shook his hand firmly._

* * *

_"You all right?" Shisui questioned as Itachi shook the daze from his head once again, blinking a few times almost blearily._

_ "I'm fine. Again. I've almost got it," Itachi replied firmly. _

_ "You sure? You're gonna have a massive headache if you keep this up," he frowned slightly. _

_ "Again," Itachi insisted. "And then you can try and throw mine off again." _

_ Shisui chuckled a little ruefully, rubbing the back of his head. _

_ "Stubborn as ever...all right. One more time." He took a slow breath to clear his thoughts. "Relax."_

_ Itachi nodded and the exercise began again. _

* * *

_"Wow. You've really picked this up quick," Shisui remarked, rubbing at his temples a bit and smiling slightly. "I've never done a backflip before."_

_ Itachi merely smiled a bit in return. _

_ "And it seems like you're totally unaffected anymore. You didn't even react when I hit you with it on your way home this evening," he said. "You're a natural."_

_ The other boy shrugged. _

_ "It's just practice..."_

_ "Heh...still." He rubbed the back of his head. "How's your aim?"_

_ "It's fine."_

_ "Yeah?" Shisui dug in his pocket and retrieved a shiny silver coin. "How fine?" _

_ Itachi rolled his eyes. _

_ "Plenty."_

_ "If you can hit this coin before it hits the ground, I'll buy you dumplings for a week," Shisui grinned challengingly. _

_ "Shisui..." Itachi sighed exasperatedly. _

_ "What? Don't think you can do it?"_

_ Itachi surveyed him for a moment and then held out his hand; Shisui smirked and handed him his pistol, settling the coin on his thumb._

_ "Ready?" _

_ Itachi checked the load on the weapon and nodded, using both his slim hands to steady it. _

_ "All right. Here goes." _

_ With a flick of his cousin's thumb, the coin flashed skyward in a gentle arc away from him. The boy's dark eyes locked onto the silver, the gun coming up; there was a sharp crack and a 'ping' of metal striking metal and the coin tumbled higher and then landed a few yards away. _

_ Shisui strolled over and scooped it up, examining it; he chuckled, shaking his head. There was a small nick on the very edge of the coin where the bullet had grazed it. _

_ "Well, I gotta hand it to ya, Itachi. I'm impressed." _

_ The boy shrugged and offered a faint, modestly pleased smile. _

_ "You owe me dumplings for a week."_

_ "Hehe. I guess. But next time, I wanna be able to see through it," Shisui replied, holding the coin up to one of his eyes and grinning. He flicked it at Itachi once the boy had stopped chuckling and rolling his eyes at him. "You can keep it. Practice makes perfect, right?" _

_ He wrapped his fingers around the still-warm metal, nodding. _

_ "Thanks." _

* * *

_"Did you know they were hypnotizing the mayor, Shisui?" Itachi demanded; they were on the hill in the pastures again, and the usually always-calm twelve-year-old looked livid._

_ Shisui sighed tiredly and rubbed the back of his head. _

_ "I've been trying to stop them since they started...it's all politics," he muttered. "They don't think it's fair that we have all those restrictions on us because of our heritage." _

_ "Our ancestors caused a lot of damage, but it was their land to begin with..." Itachi muttered, and then he shook his head. "But that's not the point. It doesn't make this right."_

_ "I know..." he agreed, scratching at his head again. "And it's starting to cause even more problems...there are a few among the city's higher ups, mostly the ones involved with the marshals and the police, that are getting suspicious; they're strong enough of will to resist being hypnotized." _

_ Itachi frowned deeply. _

_ "...and I take it they don't like what's going on."_

_ "No. They don't...Hiruzen, who's in charge of the marshals, is willing to try to negotiate and resolve this without too much trouble. He's a great man," Shisui sighed. "But they won't listen. And his partner, Danzo, isn't half as forgiving. He's got the chief of police in his pocket, too."_

_ "So...what's going to happen?" Itachi questioned, seeming a bit worried. _

_ "I'm trying to set up a meeting between our family and Hiruzen and his supporters. Hopefully, if they see that there are people on our side, they'll cool down enough to stop hypnotizing people and talk things out." _

_ "...and if they don't?" _

_ Shisui grimaced. _

_ "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it..."_

_ Itachi was silent for a long time, his prodigious brain processing the information his cousin had shared. _

_ "...one more thing," he said finally, looking up at his cousin. _

_ Shisui tilted his head. _

_ "Only one? Let's hear it."_

_ "...if there's anything I can do to stop them, you have to tell me, Shisui," Itachi demanded firmly. _

_ The young man set a hand on the boy's head. _

_ "All I want you to worry about is taking care of your brother, got it?" _

_ "I can help, Shisui," Itachi replied, his tone level but his eyes stubborn. _

_ "That is helping, Itachi...but yeah. All right. If something comes up, I'll let you know," he sighed resignedly; the boy was too much of a man sometimes. _

_ Itachi nodded sharply and held out his hand. _

_ "Shake on it."_

_ Shisui couldn't help chuckling slightly, but he took the boy's hand and shook it once. _

_ "All right."_

_ "Thanks for trusting me, Shisui."_

_ "Anytime, Itachi. Heh. If it's the two of us, there's nothing we can't do, eh? We'll have this mess settled in no time," Shisui smiled, squeezing his hand once firmly before letting go._

_ "Right."_

_ "So. How's your hand to hand coming?"_

_ "Is this really the time?" _

_ "It's never not the time."_

* * *

_"Happy birthday, Itachi."_

_ "You kept all of these?" Itachi murmured, lifting the necklace from the box; it was a chain with several of the various coins he'd shot through the center over the years forming a few of the links. _

_ "Yeah. Of course," he chuckled. _

_ Itachi rolled his eyes but clasped it around his neck firmly. _

_ "Now you can show off," Shisui teased. "The ladies love a man who can shoot." _

_ The thirteen-year-old flushed faintly and scowled slightly, much to his cousin's amusement. _

_ "Then why don't you have a girlfriend, Shisui?"_

_ "Ah man...you really are a brat."_

* * *

_"They're planning a coup. They're stirring all the old tribes and gathering support," Shisui said, pacing back and forth on the hill._

_ "But...that could mean a war," Itachi deduced with alarm._

_ "I know. We've had peace for so long now...and they're going to shatter it."_

_ "What do they hope to gain? Even with the support of the remnants of the tribes, the marshals and the police far outnumber them," Itachi muttered. _

_ "I know that. But they're stubborn. They're convinced that they're right. That fate's on their side. That the mesmer will give them the edge they need."_

_ "But it doesn't work that way. It's next to useless in a head to head confrontation."_

_ "Again, I know that, but they are convinced of their superiority." _

_ "This is madness," Itachi remarked, shaking his head. _

_ "It is...but I've got a plan," Shisui informed him._

_ Itachi arched a brow. _

_ "I'm going to hypnotize the leaders. Your father first, and the others if I have to."_

_ "That will never hold on him, Shisui," Itachi said tiredly. _

_ "It's got to. If I catch him off guard, I can do it. I'm sure. You're the only one I've ever met who's been able to resist me," he said determinedly. _

_ Itachi ran a hand through his hair. _

_ "...you'll be careful?"_

_ "Of course," he nodded. _

_ Itachi sighed. _

_ "...if you need me to help, let me know." _

_ "I knew I could count on you," Shisui smiled, ruffling his hair fondly._

* * *

_"Shi-Shisui?! What happened?!" he gasped, dropping to his knees at his cousin's side._

_ He'd heard the sound of gunfire as he approached his cousin's home, intending to drop by and invite him to go wandering the pastures as they usually did, and then a man on horseback had flown by him, his hat pulled low and his face covered by a bandana. And now Shisui was here, lying on the rough wooden planks that formed the front porch of his house, red steadily blossoming across his chest and spilling from the corners of his mouth. _

_ "Danzo...found out about my plan..." the man rasped, taking a shuddering breath that sounded like some sort of horrific, gurgling death rattle. "Sent one of his men...he intends to finish them off...he knows about the coup...thinks it's the only way...to stop them..." _

_ "Stop talking," Itachi pleaded, pressing his hands to the wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding; they were quickly submerged in a pool of red. _

_ Shisui's hand gripped his collar, the other fumbling at his gun belt. _

_ "You have to go...it's too late for...the rest of us...take Sasuke and run..." His hand slackened, falling from his collar to slide down his arm and tug his hand from his chest weakly, coughing a spray of red as he pressed the belt into Itachi's hand. "You were always...better with it than I was..."_

_ "Shisui..." His eyes burned and blurred, his fingers clenching around the leather band. _

_ "Go...find Kisame in Kiri...tell him I sent you...he'll know what...to do..." His eyes slid shut, breath ragged and shallow. "Maybe it...was for the best...at least there won't be a war..." His lips curved very slightly. "I trust you...to keep it that way...Itachi..." His breath left him and his hand fell away from Itachi's wrist. _

_ "Shisui..." He bit his lip hard, squeezing his eyes shut and clutching the gun to his chest, shaking lightly. _

_ 'Sasuke...'_

_ The thought of his brother and the man riding toward his home sparked a fire in his chest, and he grimaced, squeezing his cousin's hand once and then cinching the belt around his waist and getting to his feet. The fallen man's horse was saddled at the side of the house, probably after an afternoon check on the cattle. He stepped into the saddle and yanked the reigns around, driving his heels into the animal's sides; it snorted a protest and took off like a bullet from a gun. _

_ 'Goodbye, Shisui...' he thought as he steered the big animal away from the house, the wind of his breakneck pace whipping the tears from his eyes before they could be shed. _

* * *

_'Too late' was all he could think as he stood in his living room, his eyes wide and his hands shaking at his sides; he hit his knees and tried not to vomit, staring at the still bodies of his parents slowly bleeding out on the rug. 'I'm too late...'_

_ "Perfect. I can get this over with quickly." _

_ His fists clenched as he turned to the voice, but his face remained a blank slate. _

_ "You...you're Danzo," he said, his voice surprisingly steady as he stared the man down and got to his feet. _

_ "And you're Itachi."_

_ "You killed Shisui." _

_ "No. I merely ordered him killed," the man replied, his tone slightly harsh and utterly unrepentant. "My colleague handled that part."_

_ "Why? We could have stopped them."_

_ "For how long, Itachi? Your mesmer doesn't hold on those with strong wills. Is it really worth the peace we've worked so hard to win?"_

_ He bit his tongue, staring back at the man. _

_ "You killed my parents." He took a slow breath, attempting to find his center, to think. "You're going to kill me. And Sasuke..."_

_ "It's nothing personal. It's for the good of the many."_

_ "You think everyone will be okay with you just wiping out an entire family?" Itachi questioned sharply._

_ "It had to be done," the man said, lifting his gun. "To protect the peace, there is no price too steep."_

_ "Wait." Itachi's hand strayed to Shis-his gun; his mind was racing. "...Let me be the scapegoat. Blame the murders on me."_

_ Danzo arched a brow. _

_ "And why should I do that?" _

_ "You won't be hanged, for one," Itachi said flatly. _

_ "...why would you offer something like this? What do you hope to gain?"_

_ "My brother's safety. He knows nothing of this madness," he replied, eyes blazing but face calm. _

_ "Your brother?" The man looked thoughtful._

_ "You must swear a blood oath to me that he will not be harmed. That you will leave him alone, and put him under Hiruzen's care," Itachi demanded, holding up a hand still sticky with red. "And in return, I will swear never to speak of this to anyone, and to take the blame for this bloodshed."_

_ "And I suppose you want me to let you live as well," the man growled, visible eye narrowing. _

_ "No one will believe you if I do not flee the city." _

_ "You are an arrogant little brat," Danzo stated, eyeing him calculatingly. "A blood oath, which is sacred to you people. Under the terms you just described, and no more."_

_ Itachi swallowed hard and nodded. _

_ The man stared him down for a long moment, and then he drew a knife from his belt and holstered his gun. Slowly, he removed the glove over his right hand._

_ "If you betray me, boy, I will not hesitate to kill that brat," he said harshly as he drew the blade across his palm, blood welling up in its path. _

_ "And if you harm him, I will ensure that everyone knows the truth. And I will find you," Itachi replied icily, holding out his own bloody left hand. "And you _will_ regret it."_

_ They glared at each other for a long moment, and then they joined hands, letting the blood mingle. _

_ "I'm glad we understand each other," Danzo stated._

_ Itachi merely nodded. _

_ "Leave. I will be gone shortly," Itachi said curtly as he withdrew his hand._

_ "Don't double-cross me, boy," the man growled, backing out of the room slowly, his eyes never leaving Itachi. _

_ "The same to you." _

* * *

_He'd gathered his things and washed off Shisui's blood and was in the living room, saying his final goodbyes, when footsteps pattered up the front steps and across the porch, the door swinging wide._

_ "Ma! Pa! I'm ho-_

_ An icy ball of lead settled in his stomach as he turned to the boy, stealthily drawing the gun at his side and letting it hang loosely from the fingers of his right hand at his side. _

_ "Sasuke."_

_ "I-Itachi?! Wh-what-what is this?!" he stammered, his eyes wide and shocked; as he watched, he doubled over, retching onto the rug by the door. "M-ma? Pa? What-_

_ "I killed them, Sasuke," Itachi said flatly, drawing on reserves of will he hadn't known he possessed, the words like broken glass in his mouth. _

_ "Wh-what?! Why would you-_

_ "Because. I had to know how far I could go," he explained tonelessly. "Shooting coins and animals is one thing...to take the life of a human being...it's exhilirating," he said, allowing a hint of the hysteria that had been bubbling in the pit of his stomach color his tone with a touch of madness. "I had to know..."_

_ Sasuke stared at him, utterly betrayed and clearly terrified. _

_ "I-it's...exhilirating? Th-that's why you...killed them? Our...our parents?"_

_ Relying on that edge of madness, he nodded. _

_ "Yes. And Shisui, too. And everyone else." _

_ "You-you're a monster!" he screamed, falling backwards in his haste to get away. _

_ "You're pathetic," Itachi observed, arching a brow slightly. "Cowering like a cornered rabbit. Get out of here. You aren't worth killing."_

_ Sasuke managed to make it to the door, stumbling out of it before passing out. _

_ Itachi swallowed past the lump in his throat, tasting bile, and holstered his gun, striding out past his unconscious brother and swinging up onto Shisui's horse after tying his pack to the back of the saddle. The pain ripped and tore at him as he wrenched the horse's head around and dug in his spurs, the animal taking off with a scream that echoed the one trapped in Itachi's chest. _

_ 'I'm sorry, Sasuke...I'm so sorry...'_

* * *

Itachi woke to the sound of grating metal, blinking the grit from his eyes; he'd been more exhausted than he'd thought, apparently. He looked up to see the door to the cell he'd been confined to opening, a large, white-haired figure standing beyond the bars.

"We need to talk," Jiraiya intoned, eyeing him.

Itachi nodded; they'd gagged him at the man's orders, presumably to prevent him from hypnotizing his way out of the prison.

The other man looked around.

"Not here. C'mon."

He nodded again, getting to his feet; his hands were cuffed in front of him, a long chain connecting the cuffs to the shackles around his ankles, preventing him from lifting his hands to his face.

Jiraiya led him to a bare room a couple hallways away and closed the door behind him. He unchained his hands and stepped back, taking a seat on one side of the sturdy wooden table that dominated the room.

Itachi rubbed his wrists a bit and then reached up to remove the gag, working the soreness from his jaw.

"Is Sasuke all right?" he asked, his voice a bit hoarse from how dry his mouth was.

"He's recovering. He'll be fine," Jiraiya informed him, sliding a flask across the table at him. "You haven't been reporting recently."

Itachi picked up the flask, sniffing at the contents warily before choking down a sip of the strong liquor within; as foul as he found the substance, the fact that it was liquid soothed the dryness.

"I haven't been able to. Pein trusts me, but 'Tobi' does not," he replied once he'd stopped coughing at the burn of the liquor. He slid the flask back. "He watches me like a hawk."

"Is that so?"

"It is," he nodded, settling in the chair more firmly.

Jiraiya leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and surveying him calculatingly.

"Well. He's not watching you now. What have you got to report?" he asked, finally breaking the silence. "And it'd better be substantial, if you think I'm getting you out of this mess."

Itachi sighed tiredly.

"The heists are diversions. They're trying to draw the marshals' attention."

Jiraiya arched a brow.

"From what?"

"The cities. Konoha and Suna. One team will go after the gold reserves in Suna as a deeper part of the distraction, and the other will secretly infiltrate the government in Konoha. Pain intends to make the mayor a puppet. Konoha is a central city and a hub for transcontinental trade, especially with the new railroad. He wants to control it, the way he controls Ame." He cleared his throat slightly. "I'm meant to be involved with the team that goes after the mayor. Now, he will probably rely on Sasori's abilities."

Jiraiya frowned deeply.

"When were they planning this strike?"

"Pain intended to move on the city tonight, after we would have made our second successful robbery last night. I do not know if he will still attempt to go through with his plans," he replied.

"I see..." Jiraiya stroked his chin, mulling over what Itachi had told him.

Itachi waited a few minutes before speaking again.

"Where is Kisame?"

The man glanced up at him.

"In a cell. He's wanted."

"In Kiri. And in Konoha. Not in Suna," Itachi replied mildly.

Jiraiya heaved a long-suffering sigh.

"Sometimes I think you're more trouble than you're worth."

Itachi shrugged.

"I'd like to speak to my brother."

"Probably not a good idea," the older man remarked, arching a brow.

"He needs to know...it's time I told him the truth," he sighed.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Jiraiya asked, surprised.

The dark-haired man met his gaze steadily.

"If he continues to chase me as he has been, I fear he will push himself beyond his limits and get killed...and besides that, I do not think he needs revenge as a reason to live anymore. He's found a healthier reason. Two of them, in fact."

Jiraiya tilted his head, considering his words.

"...you realize there's no guarantee he'll stop chasing you. And what's to say he won't merely redirect his anger?"

"I do not expect him to stop being angry anytime soon," Itachi replied quietly. "But I trust his companions to keep him from doing anything rash."

"Yeah. They'll go with him," Jiraiya chuckled darkly.

"I don't think they will," Itachi disagreed. "It is easy to hate someone they barely know, to convince themselves that it's for the best to kill me. It is another thing entirely to hate your home."

"You don't think they'll go after Danzo?"

"If Pein goes through with his plan and succeeds, they won't have to," he responded. "Speaking of which, you should probably send aid to Konoha."

"And when Pein fails?" Jiraiya questioned.

"I will do what I must to protect him," Itachi replied simply. "As I always have."

It was quiet for another few minutes as they stared at each other.

"...If anyone sees you in that hospital, your cover is blown."

"No one is going to see me," Itachi said simply, rolling his eyes.

"...my offer still stands, you know. I'll vouch for you if you decide you want to come clean," Jiraiya stated.

"I know. But then who would feed you intel? The Akatsuki is where I am needed most right now," he replied quietly.

Jiraiya stared at him some more, then shook his head and got to his feet; he dropped a small key on the table.

"Unchain yourself. I'll take you to see your brother."

* * *

**A/N: Hello again. This happened during some unexpected downtime today; one of my classes got canceled. Anyway, down to business.**

**-I present to you, exposition. I was going to incorporate Itachi's story into the same chapter where he speaks to Sasuke, but it was getting ridiculously long and I ran out of time to finish the whole thing, so I decided to split it into two parts. This is part one.**

**-Itachi is dreaming at the beginning, in case that didn't register. He's had a long couple of days.**

**-The informant Jiraiya mentioned before was Itachi, yes. More on how that relationship started in another chapter. (Probably the next one.)**

**-Itachi has decided to tell the truth to Sasuke. Partially because he let slip some telling phrases on the train. Also on the train, he saw Sasuke's reaction to him taking Naruto hostage, and both Naruto and Sakura's determination to help and/or save Sasuke as needed during the fight. (They are also risking their lives and careers helping Sasuke follow him.) He no longer needs to worry about giving Sasuke a reason to keep living, as he explained to Jiraiya. He also hopes to keep him from further pursuing the Akatsuki matter, because he doesn't want his brother getting hurt. **

**-The 'tribes' I refer to in the dream sequence is an allusion to the (quite sad and dark) history of the 'American Indians' or 'Native Americans' (whichever term you prefer). My reasoning for the Uchihas' grudge is that they are discriminated against because they are descended from the natives of the fictional country we're dealing with. Natives in the 'American West' were often restricted to reservation areas, alongside many other random insulting regulations. It was the only way I could see to make it fit, and it seemed to work, so…blah.**

**-Itachi is a genius/prodigy/whatever you wanna call it, so that's my rationale behind Shisui being willing to teach him such things so young.**

**-Sigh. Okay. I'll have part two up soon. **

**-Oh. I meant to say last chapter. I do have a few rather 'superhuman' abilities thrown in (Kisame's knife skills, for example) because it's more exciting. And who doesn't want to see Kisame deflect a bullet with a knife? There will be no 'jutsu,' however. **

**-I really only listened to a couple of songs for this chapter, but they were sort of semi-fitting: Faraway – Antti Martikainen; Story of a Legend – Natanel Arnson.**

**Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Please review.**


	9. Chapter 8 - Part 2

Naruto shifted slightly, picking at the bandages wrapped around his ribs as he sat next to his friend's bed. The chair he was occupying was cold and metal and uncomfortable, but he didn't really mind. Across the bed from him, Sakura had her head down on the edge, arms folded beneath it; she'd fallen asleep a while ago, and he hadn't seen any need to wake her. They were all exhausted, after all.

Sasuke was unconscious as well, though he'd been told that he'd been awake at some point when the doctors had taken care of his wounds. He was in a hospital bed apparently because they wanted to keep an eye on his head, and on the wound in his arm, and to prevent him from cracking his ribs any further. Naruto had looked slightly guilty at that; he and Itachi had basically landed on Sasuke when he'd shoved them all off the train, which was why he was in such bad shape.

_At least we managed to accomplish the goal._

Itachi was locked up somewhere, presumably being interrogated by the marshals. He knew Sasuke would probably not be happy at not knowing exactly where and why and when and all the other details, but there wasn't much he could do about that. They would have to wait for Jiraiya or Kakashi (assuming he'd managed to escape the confines of the hospital with his newly-stitched-up wounds) to tell them more.

The door at the end of the ward they were in opened to admit a nurse with a covered tray of food; slightly to Naruto's surprise, Jiraiya was striding along at her side, flirting up a storm if the woman's expression was anything to go by. As they reached Sasuke's bed, Jiraiya glanced around the empty ward (it was a short term room with only four or five beds) and then tugged the privacy curtains into place.

The sound of the metal rings of the curtains dragging over the bars woke Sakura, and Sasuke shifted slightly, his eyelids fluttering as he neared wakefulness.

"How're you kids doing, huh?" Jiraiya asked, scrubbing a hand through Naruto's hair.

The blonde huffed and ducked out from under his hand.

"Just peachy. What're you doing here?" Naruto questioned, glancing over at Sakura; she was staring at the nurse, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"My friend here has a few things to take care of with Sasuke, if his highness would like to wake up any day soon," Jiraiya replied, glancing at the young man on the bed.

Naruto frowned and looked at Sasuke as well; he prodded at his shoulder a bit and Sasuke growled at him, face scrunched in his usual 'I'm a grumpy asshole and if you wake me up it's only gonna get worse' expression.

"Wake up, bastard," Naruto chuckled; the response was typically Sasuke, and it made him feel a little better, a little more sure that his friend was really all right.

Meanwhile, the nurse moved to set the tray on the bedside table.

Sakura scowled and kicked at 'her' booted feet as they passed.

"What the hell is going on here?" she demanded, her hand reaching for the pistol at her side; her eyes flashed at Jiraiya and then back to the 'nurse'. "Naruto's a big enough idiot to fall for this, but I'm not."

"C'mon...wakey, wak-what? I'm not an idiot," Naruto argued, looking over at Sakura from tickling Sasuke's nose with a feather from his pillow.

"You really are observant. You get that from your grandmother," Jiraiya remarked, nodding slightly to his companion.

Itachi tugged the hat and mask off, shrugging slightly.

"It wasn't a very good disguise, anyway," he said mildly, and Sakura almost could have sworn he looked a bit irked at the older man...and were those spots of color high on his sharp cheekbones?

"But it was funny as hell. And you've caused me enough trouble lately that you owed me a good laugh," the man chuckled.

"What is going on here?" Sakura repeated, leveling her gun at the man currently unbuttoning the nurse uniform.

"I need to speak to my brother," Itachi replied smoothly. "And then I need to move out again."

"Wait just a minute!" Naruto growled, getting to his feet. "We just caught this guy. What're you doing letting him out?!" He glared at Jiraiya accusingly.

"If you'll let him explain, you'll understand," he replied. "So shut up and sit down, Naruto. And put that away, Sakura. You won't be needing it. I'll vouch for him."

"He _shot_ Sasuke not twenty-four hours ago and you expect me to just-

"I'm very sorry about that...I did tell him to back down, though," Itachi cut in. "It won't be happening again anytime soon, I can assure you," he promised.

Sakura stared at him, apparently speechless.

Naruto crossed his arms and surveyed the situation, eyes squinted and face wrinkled in thought.

"I don't like it, but if the old pervert says we can trust him...we should at least hear him out, Sakura," he decided finally, glancing over at her.

"Naruto, how can you-

"Miss Haruno," Itachi began, pulling her attention back to him. He drew his gun (the remains of the 'disguise' were folded neatly on the table) and flipped it deftly in his hand, offering her the grip. "Here. If it makes you feel better, you can disarm me. The only other weapon I possess is a small knife in my boot, as you disposed of my secondary pistol on the train. If you want it, I'll give it to you as well."

Sakura stared at him, her eyes hard, and then, slowly, her hand rose to take the gun from him.

"Why do you want to talk to Sasuke so badly?" she questioned.

Itachi's eyes drifted to his brother's fitfully sleeping form (he was clearly on the very edge of consciousness), and a weird sort of sorrow softened his usually hard eyes.

"I have to tell him some things...things I should have trusted him with a long time ago."

She still looked suspicious, but she did put her gun away, tucking his into the empty holster at her left side.

It got quiet for about a minute, and then Sasuke jolted awake, his eyes opening wide; it took him several seconds to calm himself, and then his eyes settled on the figure standing at the foot of his bed.

"Itachi," he snarled, and Naruto hastily caught him by his shoulders and pushed him back down as he lunged at the man.

"Easy there, Sasuke," he muttered.

"Naruto? Sakura? What is going on?" he demanded harshly, glaring death at his brother.

The two exchanged a look and it only pissed him off further.

"Why is he here? What is going on?" he growled, gripping Naruto's collar.

"Peace, little brother...I just want to talk," Itachi interjected. "Don't be angry at them...it is by no design of theirs that I am here."

"I don't have anything to say to you," Sasuke snapped, his tone cold and harsh.

"I know that..." Itachi replied quietly. "But I have a few things I need to say to you. And I don't have a whole lot of time. So please, try to hear me out."

"You-

"Shut up and let him speak, brat," Jiraiya ordered, stepping forward. "I'm risking more than you can fathom by letting him be here. So you just sit tight and listen, or I will give you the attitude adjustment of a lifetime."

Sasuke glared at everyone present for a good solid minute each, and then he crossed his arms, his knuckles white as his fists clenched.

"What do you want?" he questioned, his demeanor surly and angry.

Itachi sighed slightly, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I want to tell you a story, Sasuke..."

He cleared his throat once and then started speaking. He started with the story of their ancestors, and why they were persecuted, and then worked his way through a tale of politics and power plays and betrayal, his rich voice painting pictures in their minds.

"When I found Shisui, he was dying. He told me what had happened and I rode to the house, foolishly hoping I might be able to do something. By the time I got there, I was too late to save our parents...Danzo was still there. He'd been searching for us, I think. We spoke, and I made a blood oath with him. If I shouldered the blame for the murders and kept quiet about it, he would allow you to live and stay away from you. You showed up just as I was about to leave...I said what I did because I was afraid you wouldn't believe the lie. I didn't want you to follow me. I thought it would be safer for you to stay in Konoha...And I thought that if nothing else, the pursuit of revenge would give you a reason to keep going."

"So, Sasuke...Now you know," he finished, meeting the young man's intense gaze. "I am sorry I didn't trust you with this from the beginning, but it just didn't seem like the best course of action."

Sasuke stared at him, and stared at him, and stared at him, and just as Itachi was about to break the silence, he spoke.

"That can't be true."

"It is," Jiraiya rumbled. "I ran into Danzo and Hiruzen arguing over the matter on accident on my way back from dealing with the murders."

Sasuke's gaze snapped to him for a second and then back to Itachi.

"...how...why didn't you tell me?" he questioned.

"As I said...it didn't seem like the best option. I wanted you to have a chance at a semi-normal life...clearly it was a foolish notion. I'm sorry."

"A normal life? You wanted-" Sasuke made a choking noise of disbelief.

"I know...somehow, I hoped you might find your own path...that you would give up on the idea of revenge as you grew older...again, I was foolishly mistaken." He met his gaze steadily. "You have too much of our family's pride in you for that."

Sasuke's fists clenched harder still, a bit of blood leaking from under his nails; he shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, looking away.

"...what about the blood oath? Didn't you swear you'd never tell anyone about this?" Sakura cut in in the silence.

"Ah. That." Itachi shrugged slightly. "It was never me who made that oath. Shisui's blood was used. Danzo foolishly assumed I had hurt myself somehow, that the blood on my hands was my own. Consequently, he made a pact with a dead man."

Sasuke shook his head again.

"...if you think this means you're forgiven, you're dead wrong," he hissed.

"I am not that naive, Sasuke," Itachi responded. "I do not ask for your forgiveness. I only offer you my regret and apologies, and selfishly so, because the only person it makes feel better is myself."

"Just...get out." He still refused to look at him, his fists shaking slighly against his arms.

The elder Uchiha nodded slowly.

"...Just so you know...I love you, little brother. That's never going to change, no matter how foolishly either of us may blunder." That said, he turned to Sakura, holding out his hand. "My gun, please."

Slowly, she handed it over.

"...this was your cousin's?" she questioned quietly.

"Yes." He slipped it back into its worn holster and inclined his head to her. "Ma'am. Naruto...Sasuke." He slipped out of the curtains.

Jiraiya glanced around at all of them.

"I'm trusting you three not to do something stupid," he directed at the teens before ducking out after Itachi; their footsteps disappeared steadily, the door to the ward opening and closing.

Sasuke glared at his hands, silent.

"...Sasuke?" Sakura questioned tentatively, starting to reach for him but then catching herself.

"Just...leave me alone," he muttered, watching the red crescents on his palms weep sluggishly.

She bit her lip and glanced away.

"...right."

Naruto frowned.

"You don't have to-

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke growled, bristling like an angry dog. "Just...just shut up..."

"...fine. But." He wrapped one of his hands around Sasuke's nearer one; on the other side of the bed, Sakura took the cue and captured his free hand between both of hers. "Just so you don't forget we're here," Naruto said, glancing away and scratching the back of his head in a poor attempt at nonchalance; his ears were red.

"Right," Sakura nodded.

Sasuke glanced from her to Naruto, the storm of feelings in him dying down just a little, and he grunted.

"Whatever."

Wisely, neither of them said a word when his fingers wrapped around theirs and tightened.

~A~A~A~

"Kisame."

The big man looked up from the bench he'd been sprawled out on, smirking slightly.

"About time you got here. You're getting slow," he said, crossing the cell to join Itachi. "Let's get out of here."

Itachi nodded slightly, handing him the belt that held his gun and his prescious blade.

"What's the plan?" he asked as he belted it on.

"We're going to have to find out what the others are doing. We should probably return to the camp," Itachi replied, leading the way out of the prison; the guards didn't react as they walked by.

Kisame glanced at him sidelong.

"...you sure you want to go back?" he asked as they 'borrowed' a couple of conveniently placed horses near the entrance to the prison block.

Itachi looked over at him.

"How much longer do you really expect this little act of yours to last?" he pressed as they galloped out of the city. "Tobi clearly knows something."

"Pein trusts me. And someone has to keep tabs on them," Itachi said firmly. "You don't have to follow me back. I'll tell them you deserted if you'd like."

"Yeah right." Kisame rolled his eyes. "I just hope you know what you're doing." "Hn."

_So do I._

~A~A~A~A~

**A/N: Here it is. **

**-Tell me what you think of 'the talk'. Im not sure on it myself. I rewrote it once already…meh. I just want it to be good, you know?**

**-I wanted to put in some lil sasu memories somewhere, but they didn't quite fit the frame of this chapter. Hence why it doesn't seem as long as I expected. The next chapter will largely revolve around Sasuke and him coming to terms with 'the truth', I think, and a bit around the goings on in the world outside the 'team seven bubble' (because there's actually quite a bit going on that just hasn't quite fit in yet). **

**-Meh. This chapter was exhausting (but still a fun challenge). **

**-More on Kisame and Itachi's partnership later on. **

**-Mostly listened to: Story of a Legend – Natanel Arnson and (somewhat appropriately) Truth – Audiomachine.**

**Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed.**


	10. Chapter 9

_"Itachi!" Sasuke beamed, trotting over to his brother as he spotted him in the school yard. _

_ He smiled, catching his little brother's hand in his own. _

_ "How was your first day, Sasuke?" _

_ "It was great! Well, except for the girls. They won't stop staring at me. Even Sakura! It's so weird..."_

_ Itachi chuckled._

_ "They do that. You get used to it."_

_ "Hmph. Well, I don't like it..." he huffed, clinging onto Itachi's hand happily. "Naruto's in my class. He's as dumb as ever."_

_ "Now, now, Sasuke..."_

_ "Oh, come on! He tried to prank the teacher on the first day!"_

_ "Really?" Itachi asked, sounding mildly amused instead of outraged. _

_ "Yeah! It was really stupid."_

_ "Hn. Well, would you like to stop for a soda on the way home to celebrate? Shisui gave me some money."_

_ "Really?" Sasuke stared up at him, excited and awed. "C'mon! Let's go!" He tugged at his brother's hand eagerly, leading the way to the general store._

~A~A~A~

_"Hey, Itachi. Whatcha doin' with those?" Sasuke asked, catching sight of his brother on his way out of the yard and making a beeline for him._

_ "Hn?" Itachi glanced over at him and then down at the bag of marbles swinging from a cord around his wrist. "Oh. I was going to do some target practice," he replied, bringing Sasuke to a halt with a two-fingered jab to the forehead. _

_ "Ow!" Sasuke rubbed his forehead, squinting up at his brother as he continued on his way; he trotted along at his side. "Target practice? With marbles?"_

_ "Yup. Don't you have homework you should be doing?" _

_ "I finished it all," he beamed, puffing out his chest. "Naruto skipped today, so there was no one to distract me."_

_ "That's good, Sasuke," Itachi smiled slightly. "You should really be nicer to him, though." _

_ "No way! He's way too annoying!" He shook his head and crossed his arms mulishly. _

_ "Maybe he just wants some attention," Itachi suggested lightly. "How was the rest of your day?"_

_ Sasuke beamed, thoughts of his annoying classmate forgotten at Itachi's show of interest; he proceeded to babble on and on about his day happily until Itachi stopped at a section of pasture near an old shed (meant for holding supplies for cattlemen). _

_ "What are we doing here, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, looking around curiously; it looked like any other grassy field. _

_ "Target practice, remember?" Itachi replied, swinging the bag of marbles into his hand with a flick of his wrist. _

_ "I still don't get what you're gonna do with those things, Itachi. You don't even have a gun," Sasuke frowned, puzzled. _

_ Itachi made his way to the shed, unlocking it with a key from his pocket; when he stepped out again, there was a gun belt with an old pistol in his hand. _

_ "Shisui lets me practice with his spare," he explained. _

_ "Whoa..." Sasuke stared, eyes wide. _

_ "I need you to stay right here by the shed, all right? I don't want you to get hurt," Itachi instructed, strapping on the belt. _

_ "Okay," Sasuke agreed, rolling his eyes; his brother would never hurt him, after all. _

_ Itachi took four marbles from the pouch and then tossed it to Sasuke. _

_ "What are you gonna-Wow, Itachi!"_

_ His brother had tossed the little glass orbs skyward, and there were three sharp cracks and then a rain of fine, sparkly powder had drifted down in front of him, the gun in his hand and still smoking. _

_ "How did you do that?! That was amazing!" Sasuke exclaimed, darting over to his brother's side; excitedly, he took out four more marbles. "Do it again, Itachi!"_

_ Itachi was frowning slightly himself, leaning down to pick up the fourth marble._

_ "Too slow..." he muttered, and then he glanced over at Sasuke, smiling slightly. "Practice, little brother. That's all there is to it."_

_ "Yeah, yeah. You have to teach me," he decided, eyes sparkling. _

_ "We'll see, Sasuke," Itachi chuckled, reloading the revolver and accepting three of the marbles Sasuke was holding out to him. _

_ This time, all four of them met their ends when Itachi tossed them. _

_ "Can I try? Please?" Sasuke pleaded a few rounds later, when the grass around his brother was literally sparkling with the amount of glass dust sprinkled over it. _

_ "Well...I don't know," Itachi mused, hand resting on the holstered gun thoughtfully. _

_ "Oh come on, Itachi! Pleeease?" _

_ Itachi rolled his eyes slightly, a faint, amused smile on his lips. _

_ "All right. Come here."_

_ "Yes!" Sasuke scurried over to him, reverently accepting the weapon he passed over. _

_ "Now look. Use both hands to steady it...there you go. Can you pull the hammer back? Good. The barrel is still hot, so be-hey! Don't point that over here!" _

_ "Right! I'm ready," Sasuke said finally, hands wrapped around the handle firmly and legs planted. _

_ "Okay...just try one for now," Itachi responded, pulling out a brightly colored sphere. "Here it comes." He sent the marble arcing out over the field. _

_ Sasuke took the shot, but predictably, he missed horribly. He also managed to smack himself in the face with the recoil, landing him with a split lip. _

_ "Ow!"_

_ Itachi concealed a small chuckle, shaking his head. _

_ "I did warn you about the recoil," he said, not quite able to keep all of the amusement out of his voice. He leaned down to his brother, taking the gun back in one hand and checking his injury with the other. "Mother will kill me," he mused. _

_ Sasuke's watery eyes widened. _

_ "Oh no. We have to think of something to tell her," he said, comically fearful. _

_ Itachi really did chuckle this time, putting the equipment away and locking up again before going to crouch down in front of his brother. _

_ "C'mon. She'll probably just assume you and Naruto had another fight," he said, Sasuke scrambling onto his back with a huff. _

_ "Hmph...I guess so."_

_ Itachi glanced over his shoulder at the boy as he started for home. _

_ "You'll get better at it, Sasuke."_

_ He nodded sharply. _

_ "Of course I will!" He caught sight of the sun and frowned slightly, tugging on his brother's ponytail. "Hurry up, Itachi! We can't be late for dinner again."_

_ "Neigh," Itachi chuckled, picking up his pace a bit as Sasuke giggled and shook his 'reigns'. _

~A~A~A~

_"Big brother?" _

_ "Yes, Sasuke?" _

_ They were sitting on the edge of their front porch, Sasuke's legs dangling. It was the holiday season, the weather chilly and the house full of relatives who'd been over for a celebratory meal and then lingered after to share stories over warm cups of cider. The two of them had escaped the stuffily crowded house several minutes ago. _

_ "...why doesn't anyone care about what I'm doing? They always ask about you," Sasuke questioned, trying not to look like he was pouting (and failing utterly)._

_ Itachi looked over at him, his expression just a little sad. _

_ "They do care, Sasuke...they're just..." He paused, searching for the right words. _

_ "Too busy being interested in you," Sasuke finished, kicking his legs a bit. _

_ His brother sighed, looking away. _

_ "You probably hate me, huh?" _

_ Sasuke frowned a little deeper, glancing at Itachi and opening his mouth to speak, though for once, nothing came out. _

_ "It's all right if you do," Itachi promised gently, meeting his gaze. "I'll always be there for you, one way or another, no matter what you feel about me. That's what big brothers are for, after all," he smiled warmly._

_ Sasuke bit his lip and smiled just a little in return. _

_ "Yeah...I guess...Thanks, Itachi."_

~A~A~A~

"Sasuke? Sasuke? Hey. You in there?"

Two knuckles tapped the center of his forehead and he nearly flinched; his eyes cracked open as he was drawn from his thoughts, and he glared at Naruto openly.

"The doctors wanna do stuff," the blonde informed him, stepping away; behind him stood the doctor and nurse who'd attended to him when he'd first arrived in the hospital.

He drew in a slow breath to quiet the storm inside him and nodded slightly, sitting up to let them work. He followed orders mechanically, letting himself be handled like some sort of doll; he remained lost in thought.

It didn't take much to remember his childhood with his brother, to remember the way he'd been so sure that Itachi could do no wrong, that he was indisputably the coolest, kindest, best big brother in the whole world. And until that day, Itachi had never done anything to disprove his young mind's assumption.

And that day was engraved into the walls of his mind. He could still see the look in Itachi's eyes as he'd turned to Sasuke all those years ago, his gun dangling from his hand. There had been the beginnings of madness in those eyes, the look of a man on the very edge and about to lose his grip.

In the context of the story his brother had spun, he could see, in his mind's eye, the way the tear troughs under his eyes had glistened, the touch of pain that had blended with what could only have been helpless rage (and, dare he say it, fear?) and leant the madness credit, stoking the flames within him.

Still, he found it hard to believe this new spin on things. He'd been angry for so long...and Itachi had lied to him and hurt him repeatedly in the years since. The pain and rage were so deep-seated that he wasn't sure they would ever go away, whether he accepted Itachi again or not.

And yet...somewhere in his chest, buried in the deepest depths of his heart, remained the fact that Itachi was his big brother. The one he'd adored and idolized and begged to come out and play just for a little while before dinner. The one who'd always had faith in him, who'd patiently dealt with all his little schemes and reassured him of his dreams. The one remaining member of his family. And he couldn't deny the immense, joyful relief that tiny part of him was feeling right now; small though it was, the feelings were powerful, a bright spark in the darkness that inhabited his angry avenger's heart.

"Mr. Uchiha? You're free to go," the doctor informed him as he finally manage to draw his attention. "But you are to take it easy, young man. Those wounds will become serious quickly if you push yourself too hard."

Sasuke nodded slightly and swung his legs over the edge of the bed as the doctor and nurse left; this landed him nearly face to face with Sakura, who flushed slightly and held out his clothes, washed and folded neatly. He stood carefully, testing his legs, and then nodded to himself and accepted the clothes, brushing past her (perhaps just a little closer and slower than absolutely necessary) and heading toward the bathroom at the end of the ward.

Once he'd changed, he scrubbed his face thoroughly with water from the sink, leaning over the basin as he let the excess drip off. When he glanced at himself in the mirror, he barely recognized the man looking back at him.

His usually messy hair was tangled and almost matted in the back from being prone so long, deep, dark shadows under his eyes. Stubble darkened his jaw and itched uncomfortably. He looked a mess, which was really just about right. His reason for living, his self-appointed purpose for the last eleven years was a lie. He felt like a ship cut away from anchor and left to drift.

Absently, he tried to scrub a bit of water through his hair, hoping to lessen the greasy sheen, but without proper soap, a comb, and a razor, he wasn't going to be getting much better than he already was. Sighing heavily, he dried his hands and strode back out to meet the other two.

Naruto was sitting on the edge of his bed in front of Sakura, talking to her in what he obviously thought was a quiet tone but which carried across the still-empty room anyway; he looked up as Sasuke approached, falling quiet.

"I don't suppose anyone has my gun," Sasuke remarked a bit dully, his thumbs tucked into his belt.

Sakura leaned down to the cabinet under the bedside table, tugging it open and removing a canvas bag.

"Apparently one of the marshals who went to check the train when it reached the station found them," she said as she passed both Sasuke and Naruto their revolvers. "I think my other one fell off. Mr. Asuma dropped these off; Kakashi told him they were yours."

"Hn." He slipped the gun into his holster, feeling just a little bit better with the familiar weight at his hip.

"Um...so, what do we do now?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Well, we can't stay here," Sakura stated, glancing at Sasuke.

"Right..." Naruto frowned slightly, thinking. "The train doesn't make a return trip until tomorrow...so we're stuck here at least tonight."

Sakura sighed.

"And if we're going to make it back by train, we're going to need all the money we've got left and maybe then some...so that's no hotel for the night."

Naruto brightened suddenly.

"Oh! We should try and find Gaara," he said, grinning. "I bet he'll let us stay with him for the night."

"That might work...if you think you can convince him...and if it's not too much trouble," Sakura nodded; she felt a little bad at the idea of showing up on the quiet ginger's doorstep unannounced, but desert nights were cold and they hadn't brought any real supplies with them. "...is that all right with you, Sasuke?"

He looked up from his musings and shrugged. He didn't particularly like Gaara or his two siblings (they'd had an...encounter in the past), but he and Naruto got along well, and he couldn't actually think of a better option

"It's fine."

"All right. Let's move out," Naruto decided with a grin.

He and Sakura took positions on either side of Sasuke as they headed down the ward and then out of the hospital, close enough to let their elbows brush his. Normally, he would have complained, but he was still rather out of it and didn't so much as comment.

Sasuke wandered along between them, seemingly in a daze, as they asked a receptionist for directions and then set off into the city, stopping at a post office for more information and then moving on, intent on finding the redhead's residence. He couldn't really have cared less where they were going at the moment.

If he accepted Itachi's words as the truth, it made him hurt in a hundred new ways as well as all the old. His brother hadn't wanted to take him with him. His brother had left him alone, to fend for himself, to try to reconcile the agonizing loneliness that the murder had left him with the pain of losing his family and the anger that bordered on madness he directed at his brother. His brother had ultimately taken it upon himself to decide his future for him the instant he spoke to him that day and filled his heart with helpless rage. Somewhere in a disgustingly petty part of his soul, he was even mad that Itachi had gone after their apparently lost-cause parents instead of coming to get him and escaping first.

Dimly, he was aware that they'd found Gaara and were currently on his front doorstep and being invited inside. He closed his eyes for a moment as he stepped into the slightly cooler interior of the house after his friends; the heat was nearly intolerable during the day in the desert city, and the sweat building under the bandage on his arm was starting to sting.

It was probably for the best that he was inside. The heat had made his temper start to rise in his chest like acid.

"Sasuke?"

He turned his head towards Sakura, her voice drawing him from his musings again.

"You should really drink something," she said, pushing a glass of water at him.

He took it wordlessly, noting that they were sitting at a table in a dining room now, and he sipped a little of the cool liquid to appease her; the first mouthful reminded him how thirsty he really was, and he downed the whole glass in about a minute. She looked faintly amused, sliding a second glass (her own, he supposed) toward him.

"There's more, Sasuke," she chuckled when he hesitated to accept the drink, getting to her feet and heading for another room (the kitchen, probably), the empty glass in her hand.

Heaving a sigh, he sipped at the water and listened to the sound of voices as Naruto and Gaara and his siblings and Sakura chatted in the kitchen, providing a surprisingly soothing background track to his thoughts.

The closer he came to accepting his brother's words as the truth, the more lost he felt. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Was he really supposed to just go on as though nothing had changed? Was he meant to return to the outpost and simply continue living as he had, taking care of the petty problems of the town and pretending that he still had a higher purpose?

His thoughts took an abrupt turn, recalling Itachi's revelation of his parents' true murderer. Danzo Shimura. An infamous captain of the marshals and the subject of many dark stories that no one seemed able to either prove or disprove. His blood boiled at the thought of him. Was that what he was supposed to do? Simply switch targets?

Somehow, he was certain that Itachi would be upset with him if he did go after the man. And more than that, Danzo was a much more difficult target to pursue. He would lose his career without proof of the man's crimes, and even if he had proof, he'd likely be convicted for the murder. Not to mention the fact that Sakura and Naruto would probably follow him into it.

Still...plotting the man's demise made it easier to think of Itachi as his brother again, instead of as the enemy. And that made him wonder just when he'd switched sides, which in turn led him to the angry pain directed at Itachi.

His thoughts remained circular all through the dinner that Sakura and Gaara's sister prepared, steadily driving him crazier and crazier until he stood up from the table as they sat talking after the meal.

"I'm going for a walk," he said, unable to sit still with his inner turmoil any longer; he headed for the front door swiftly.

"Oh. Well...don't be gone too long," Sakura called after him, sounding concerned.

He grunted faintly to indicate he'd heard her without slowing down.

The sun was setting when he stepped out, the ambient temperature much more bearable and cooling quickly. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and strode off, ambling directionlessly, buffeted this way and that by his thoughts.

~A~A~A~

"Is he all right?" Gaara asked as he and Naruto settled in his living room with mugs of coffee.

"He will be...I think," Naruto replied, frowning slightly. "I think he just needs to be alone..."

"You said he ran into his brother," the ginger confirmed. "Is it wise to let him wander on his own?"

"Huh? Oh, he won't hurt anyone...I think he's overwhelmed or something," Naruto muttered, though it had been a couple of hours now since Sasuke had disappeared. "He's not really the huggy type, ya know?"

"Hm." Gaara sipped his coffee. "He expresses himself through actions instead of words."

"Yeah. Like you," Naruto chuckled, shaking his head.

Gaara glanced up at him.

"Perhaps you should go and find him, in that case."

The blonde frowned, considering that; it was true that Sasuke had a history of dealing with his feelings in rather explosive manners...Gulping, he realized he probably should have followed him from the beginning, if only to keep him from picking a fight with someone and getting himself arrested.

"Uh...yeah, actually I probably should...hehe...be back soon," he said, getting to his feet and setting his mug on the coffee table and trotting out the door.

Behind his friend's back, Gaara rolled his eyes. For all his ability to make friends in the most unlikely of places, Naruto was incredibly oblivious at times.

~A~A~A~

It took seemingly forever to find Sasuke. Suna was about the same size as Konoha, and it wasn't like he had any idea where Sasuke would have ended up wandering off to.

When he did find him, it was with some relief (that he wasn't in a bar picking fights) and some irritation (because his friend had chosen, of all places, the roof of one of the largest of Suna's weird domed buildings). Naruto came to a halt at the base of the building, looking up at Sasuke.

"What the hell are you doin' up there?" he called.

Sasuke glanced down at him from where he was sitting on the edge of the low wall that surrounded the top of the roof but didn't respond.

"...How the hell did you even get up there?" Naruto tried again, squinting around for a ladder.

"Stairs."

Naruto huffed, starting to walk the perimeter of the building in search of the stairs; he found them on the other side, cut into the side of the dome in a zig-zagging pattern, and started up.

"So...gonna tell me why you're up here now?" Naruto questioned when he'd made it to the top and strode over to settle beside his friend.

Sasuke shrugged.

"I didn't think you'd find me here."

Naruto gave him an irritated look and then shook his head slightly; it was a classic Sasuke answer. Perhaps the Uchiha was feeling better.

"Haha. Very funny. I was starting to think I'd better check the prison," he replied.

Sasuke's only reaction was a faint sigh through his nose.

Naruto frowned.

"...are you okay? And don't gimme your usual bull about not understanding and being a loner and blah blah blah. We're seriously worried about you," he asserted.

"I'm...better," Sasuke replied, the words coming slowly.

"Better is good," Naruto nodded thoughtfully.

"...yeah."

"...so we're gonna head back tomorrow, right?" Naruto asked after a while.

Sasuke took another twenty years to reply.

"Yes."

The blonde eyed him.

"...you're not gonna go after this Danzo guy, are you?" As oblivious as Naruto could be, the person he understood the best in the world was Sasuke (most of the time), and he knew the other young man would never be able to let something like this go.

Sasuke sighed for real this time, the breath that left him long and very slightly shaky as his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"...no."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, cause-

"Not yet."

Damn it.

"What d'you mean, not yet?" he asked warily.

"Danzo isn't the type of opponent to be taken on the way we hunted Itachi," he muttered, looking out across Suna.

"...yeah. So what're you planning?"

"It doesn't matter right now," Sasuke said, and Naruto blinked, surprised.

"Really?" Sasuke had always seemed almost suicidally impatient for his vengeance in the past. This was a new game.

"...I want to find Itachi. I have to talk to him. And I need to talk to Hiruzen."

Naruto blinked again, head tilting.

"...why?" After all, Naruto had had to physically restrain him the last time he'd seen Itachi.

"I have questions," he replied simply.

"..." Naruto heaved a sigh. "Well, all right then. We're goin' back to Konoha tomorrow, so we can hunt down Hiruzen while we're there...it might take a little longer to find your brother again."

Sasuke glanced over at him directly for the first time.

"...why do you always do this?" he asked, and his tone was surprisingly not-hostile (though also not warm and friendly (which would actually have worried the blonde)).

"Do what?" Naruto questioned, head tilting curiously.

"Follow me," Sasuke explained. "I know why Sakura does it...but you..."

Naruto looked away first, his eyes drawn to his hands as he mulled over the question for a few seconds. The answer sprang to his lips swiftly.

"Why should it be any different than Sakura's reason?" He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I care about you, Sasuke."

"I've hurt you thousands of times since we've known each other, physically and emotionally. I don't understand why..."

"Because," the blonde smiled slightly, glancing over at him. "You were my first friend. You are my best friend, Sasuke. And that's the way love is. It hurts a lot sometimes, but the rest of the time makes it worth the pain."

"...you love me?" Sasuke's tone was completely smooth, inflectionless, his face giving away nothing of his thoughts.

Naruto shrugged slightly, letting his blue eyes meet the black pair staring at him intently.

"Yeah. I guess I do."

They stared at each other for a long time, the moon steadily rising from the horizon and into the sky.

"...we should get back. It's cold out here," Naruto said finally, breaking the stare to look up at the moon as he got to his feet a bit stiffly, brushing sand from his pants.

"...hn." Sasuke followed his lead, rising and brushing off before heading across the roof. "...Naruto?"

"Yeah, Sasuke?" the blonde asked, glancing back at him from the top of the steps.

"...thanks."

And then he brushed past him to head down the stairs ahead of him.

~A~A~A~A~A~

Sakura shifted slightly uncomfortably on the couch cushions, readjusting her grip on the mug of coffee in her hands for the tenth time in a minute.

Where are they...?

Just as she'd decided that she couldn't wait any longer, the door opened and admitted a familiar pair of figures, one blonde and one dark.

Getting to her feet automatically, she strode over to them, her coffee abandoned on the table and her arms wrapping around the both of them. She released them quickly, cheeks heating slightly as she stepped back.

"I was starting to worry you'd run off and done something stupid without me," she scowled, doing her best to make her tone sharp. "I thought I was going to have to take a search party out. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's not my fault...the bastard hides too good," he defended, though he was too pleased with the hug to look properly scolded.

Sasuke brushed a hand over her shoulder as he stepped past her, directing his attention to the ginger on the couch (he'd been keeping Sakura company).

"Where are we sleeping?"

Gaara took a sip of his tea before answering.

"There are two beds in the third room on the right of the upstairs hall."

Nodding curtly, the Uchiha snagged his friends, Sakura by the hand and Naruto by the shirt sleeve, and tugged them after him up the stairs. Naruto huffed a little, calling his good nights to Gaara, but he didn't complain overmuch.

Once they were settled on the edge of a bed in the room, Sasuke kicked off his boots and unbuckled his belt and then flopped back on the bed in a very Naruto-esque manner. He looked exhausted, and his eyes closed as he fell back.

Flushing and glancing at Naruto questioningly, Sakura eased the gun belt out from under him, coiling it neatly around the holster to set on the nightstand. Naruto shrugged and followed Sasuke's lead, flopping back on his other side comfortably once he'd set aside his weapon and boots.

"Sasuke...? I'm sorry, but if you're still awake, you should let me change your bandages before you sleep," Sakura said after an oddly disconcerting moment of the two lying there without trying to hit each other for taking too much space or breathing the other's air, falling back on what she knew (namely, taking care of her two idiots).

The Uchiha grunted slightly, his right hand reaching to unbutton the cuff of his left sleeve and then shoving the fabric up his arm messily. Sakura sighed and brushed his hand away to fold the sleeve back neatly until it revealed the bandages wrapped around his bicep.

She got to her feet. "I'm going to grab my bag...back in a minute."

Sasuke grunted again and settled to wait, letting his eyes close again tiredly; he could feel the exhaustion pressing down on him, like some sort of heavy blanket trying to smother his thoughts. Sakura returned a moment or two later with her bag, pulling out a first-aid kit.

Hesitating slightly, she pulled out a small pair of scissors to cut away the soiled bandages, her free hand going to steady his arm gently but firmly when he twitched at the coolness of the metal. Discarding the old wrappings, she took a bit of alcohol-dipped cotton and started cleaning the area around the wound carefully. Once she was satisfied, she started wrapping it once more in clean bandages from her kit.

"You're so good at this stuff, Sakura," Naruto sighed, watching her work lazily; his hand had somehow ended up covering Sasuke's on the bed between them.

"You two don't give me much choice otherwise," she replied, tying off the strips of cloth neatly. "There...You should get some sleep now."

"Hn." The raven haired man shifted, kicking his legs up onto the bed and making Naruto protest as his calves were draped over his chest; his good hand caught Sakura's tugging her down insistently beside him.

Flushing faintly, she squeezed his hand once and then set the remainder of the medical supplies aside and settled next to him, kicking off her boots as she did so.

Naruto, meanwhile, sat up and sighed slightly, watching her settle her cheek on his chest comfortably. He started to push himself to his feet, and Sakura caught a glimpse of his expression and opened her mouth to call him back, but before she could, Sasuke had grabbed the blonde by his belt loop and tugged him back onto the bed.

"Stop looking pathetic," he grunted, catching his sleeve and pulling until Naruto laid back beside him.

"I can't help it; I guess you're rubbing off on me," Naruto snarked back, and Sasuke elbowed him surprisingly lightly for it, looking less annoyed and closer to content.

Sakura was rather impressed (and pleased). She wondered what they'd said to each other to bring about this sudden almost pleasantness toward each other, but then decided just as quickly that she didn't want to know. She was just glad they seemed to be getting along, and that Sasuke seemed to have finally reached some form of calm.

Reaching across Sasuke's chest, she twined a hand with Naruto and smiled slightly, letting her eyes close. This at least felt right again, Sasuke's warm chest rising and falling beneath her cheek and Naruto's calloused hand wrapping around her own; this felt like they'd found some form of balance, and it made her marginally more hopeful for the future, because it meant that they'd be meeting it together.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

**A/N: Hi all. I'm back somewhat. **

**-I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It feels…sloppy somehow, but I don't know. It's been a while since I wrote the beginning, and it ended up rambling on a bit I think. Meh.**

**-I'm sorry about this taking so long, especially after I said it wouldn't, but I needed time to deal with the emotional wreck that my last semester left me in. My state of mind then is probably part of why this chapter came out the way it did, with Sasuke's rambling, circular thoughts and all… I'm all right now, though, so it's all good.**

**-This chapter was obviously rather Sasuke-centric. It sorta needed to be, I felt, after Itachi's bombshell last chapter. **

**-I'm tired, but this is fun. A good break time.**

**-Working on the next chapter but no promises as to when it will be up. It should be a lot more action packed than this, at least. Lots of exposition. **

**-I don't know what I listened to. It was a while ago that I wrote most of this, hehe…meh. **


	11. Chapter 10

The horse's sides heaved between his knees as he rode; lather from the animal's mouth slicked the bit and was whipped away in white flecks by the wind of their speed. Itachi glanced over at Kisame's mount, finding the slightly larger animal in similar condition. He was glad they'd nearly reached the rocky promontory they'd been heading for; the animals wouldn't bear much more of this riding without rest.

The rendezvous point they were heading for was one of many spread across the territories the Akatsuki rode through, though it tended to serve as one of their more frequent haunts due to its central location and the way the nine rocky fingers that surrounded it made it defensible.

Itachi tugged at the reins lightly, slowing the horse to a gentle trot as it slipped through a gap in the rock to enter the inner circle. Kisame's horse automatically slowed to match his gait.

"Hello!" Tobi greeted them cheerily from beside the smokeless fire that burned in the center of the circle. "Tobi was beginning to worry!"

Glancing around, Itachi frowned vaguely and slipped out of his saddle, letting his horse drink thirstily from one of the troughs lining the rocky walls.

"Where is everybody?" Kisame questioned as he dismounted as well. "Have they all moved out already?"

"That's right," the orange-masked man chirped. "Pein got tired of waiting. Tobi doesn't think Pein is very happy with Itachi and Kisame," he added, head tilting slightly; his eyes, shaded by his wide-brimmed hat, seemed to focus on Itachi. "Pein thinks Itachi let himself get caught, but Tobi thinks that's silly. Itachi isn't that stupid, right?"

Kisame arched a brow, glancing between them; he could guess why Itachi had done what he'd done, but he was very curious about how he would defend his decision if pressed. After all, it would have been possible (albeit highly difficult and possibly costly) to escape without capture.

"There were unforeseen complications," Itachi stated simply, picking up a canteen from a supply rack and taking a long drink from it.

"And you needed to report to that foolish old man." Tobi's voice was abruptly a lot less light-hearted, deep and deadly serious, though utterly smooth and calm.

Itachi capped the canteen and set it down slowly before turning to face the other man.

"You're quite the actor, you know. Pein actually believes he can trust you. He's an idiot," Tobi stated. "I suppose Konoha will be swarming with marshals by now."

Itachi said nothing, resting his hand comfortably on the gun at his side. Kisame, meanwhile, had drawn his knife behind his back, his free hand on his own pistol; he'd decided a long time ago, soon after they'd gotten involved in the gang, where his loyalty lay, and now he was immensely curious how this would play out.

When the boy had come running to him, scrawny and bedraggled but still somehow maintaining his composure, he'd agreed to take him in, mostly out of respect for Shisui (whom he'd owed a life debt to) but also partially because he was intrigued by him. Here was a boy-man with such nobility and strength of character it practically oozed from his pores begging a man charged as a murderous traitor to take him in because he'd somehow become one himself.

Kisame had believed him, too, up until the boy had finally passed out in the early hours of the morning and the nightmares had started. He'd cried like a baby, weeping into the old duster Kisame had given him to use as a pillow, begging for his mother and his cousin and his father, and Kisame had known then and there that he had never killed anyone in his life. The big man had settled next to him and let him curl against his side unconsciously until he cried himself into a deeper sleep.

By wordless agreement, neither of them spoke of that night. They'd lived together for barely a week before Akatsuki came recruiting, and Itachi had surprised him once again by joining up with the gang and their pretty ideals about 'retaking the west' and righting old wrongs. Kisame had joined as well, partially to keep an eye on the boy and partially because he found the group's objectives (naïve though they seemed) enticing.

Since then, he'd worked with the Uchiha almost exclusively, doing the organization's bidding and pretending not to notice when Itachi slipped away to meet with his contact in the outside world. He knew the Uchiha was feeding information on the group to the marshals; it would have been extremely blind of him not to have found out. But over time, he'd grown to respect the Uchiha, who'd grown from a scrawny brat with a quick draw and a smooth tongue into a downright deadly force of nature that complimented his own skill. And he still remembered that first night, holding the sobbing child who would wake up a cold, hardened man.

"Nothing to say for yourself? I suppose you must be used to betraying those close to you, hm? Doesn't even phase you anymore, does it?" Tobi remarked.

"You are one to talk," Itachi said mildly, as though commenting on the weather. "Your identity ceased to be a secret to me years ago."

"Oh? Is that so?" The man sounded like a teacher humoring a student who had just given a preposterous answer to a thought provoking question.

"I also know who Pein thinks you are, Obito," he replied calmly.

"Bravo, Itachi! You really are quite sharp," the man laughed delightedly, clapping his hands together.

The Uchiha looked unimpressed by this display, and Kisame was frowning now.

_Not Madara?_

"But then again, any truly intelligent person with the right background could make that leap. It would be more impressive if you knew _why_ I am Obito playing Madara playing Tobi."

Itachi simply stared at him for a long moment, during which it seemed to Kisame that there was some sort of silent battle of wills. The tension in the hollow grew nearly palpable. Finally, Itachi spoke again.

"Madara intends to take control of as many of the territories as he can. Once he's achieved that, he believes he can return things to the way they were in his prime. He'll unify the territories and make those that drive his kin from their homes suffer the same fate. And he intends to use you, and through you, Akatsuki, to do it," he said quietly.

"How long have you known?" 'Obito' asked, sounding intrigued now.

"You are not half as covert as you believe you are," the Uchiha replied. He drew his gun slowly.

"That's my mistake, underestimating you," the man allowed, eyeing the weapon in the young man's hand. "Are you going to shoot me, Itachi? Do you think that will stop him?"

"No. You're going to take me to him," Itachi said simply, thumbing back the hammer of the pistol with practiced ease.

"And I don't, _then_ you'll shoot me?" he chuckled.

"No. I will," a new voice spoke; from the shadows of one of the other entrances to the hollow stepped a silver haired man, his face obscured and a rifle propped steadily in his arms, the sights set on Obito. There was the sort of anger and pain in his tone that broke men. "Take off the mask."

Kisame glanced around the hollow; this kept getting more interesting by the minute, and he wasn't sure now whether he should be more worried about 'Obito' or the marshal.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Kakashi Hatake was a man not known for spending a long time on his back after being knocked down. Time and time again, those around him had been astounded by the man's resilience. Jiraiya had once seen him trampled into the dirt on a botched war-time charge during a stint in the cavalry. His body had been one big bruise, his nose had been broken, and he'd cracked four ribs. The very next day, he'd been back in the saddle, giving no sign of his injuries or the pain he must have been in.

Therefore, the older man had no qualms with sending him out after Itachi and Kisame the night of their alleged escape from Suna's prison. A few stitches weren't going to hinder the Hatake, besides the fact that he was the only tracker in existence (apart from perhaps a few of the Inuzukas) capable of following the hour-old trail across the desert (Jiraiya would never even pretend to understand how the man did it; his intuition and senses were almost eerily well developed).

"Just follow them. Find out where they're going. Do not take a shot, even if you are presented the opportunity," Jiraiya instructed, standing beside the already-mounted-up marshal. "I'll keep an eye on the kids as best I can."

"Right. Anything else?" Kakashi questioned, nodding his understanding.

"Be careful," Jiraiya replied. "I'm heading for Konoha myself, so expect to rendezvous there."

Again, the Hatake nodded, absently running a hand over the head of the small dog perched in front of him; anticipating that his hounds might be useful, he'd brought Pakkun with him when he'd gotten on the train in Konoha (though the dog had had to stay in the cargo hold).

"Get going, then," Jiraiya said, slapping his horse's rump and sending the animal jolting forward.

He shook his head slightly as he watched him disappear into the desert; he didn't like sending him out alone, but something had seemed off about Itachi's report. Jiraiya had the distinct impression that the Uchiha knew far more than he was reporting, and it made him anxious. He didn't doubt the man's loyalty, but he couldn't deny that it was worrisome that he wasn't giving Jiraiya all the facts. Thus his decision to tail him.

_You better be careful, Kakashi…I don't know what I'm sending you into._

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Tracking the duo had been difficult, to say the least. In fact, it had been nearly impossible at first, due to the lack of a clear trail in the sand. Most of the reason he'd caught up to them at all had been his own guesswork; Pakkun's nose was unfortunately unreliable due to the stiff and swirling desert wind. Fortunately, his guesses had proven correct, for when he'd finally reached the beginnings of the rocky foothills that bordered the desert, both he and the dog had picked up their sign almost immediately.

From there, it had been relatively easy to catch up to them, though he was careful to keep his distance; he didn't want to be recognized, and it was taking a fair amount of both luck and skill to avoid detection. Thankfully, they had seemed to be riding with quite single minded purpose, and thus had failed to notice him steadily approaching from behind.

When they had disappeared into the strange, almost crown-shaped circle of rock formations, he'd taken the chance to tie his horse behind another bit of rock and make his way over, rifle in hand and Pakkun moving along stealthily at his feet.

What he heard as he hid in a shadowy gap between a couple of rock faces was still rocking his world.

It had nearly given him a heart attack, and then the denial had set in, for it couldn't be true. It just couldn't. He'd watched Obito (idiotic, annoying, loud-mouthed, wonderful, kind-to-the-core Obito) die after he'd saved Kakashi's life by throwing him bodily out of the way of a cave in.

They'd been with Minato and Rin (as always seemed to be the case), tagging along after the famed marshal as usual as he guarded a group of workers bent on blasting railroad shafts through the mountains. One of the miners had shouted for help, and Rin had gone running in recklessly, and in Obito had gone after her, despite all the warnings thrown after him. In the end, Kakashi had gone too, because he couldn't lose both of them in one day.

Kakashi still heard the rumbling of the great mountain and Rin's agonized cries as she realized Obito was not with them on the outer side of the rubble in his nightmares. He still blamed himself; perhaps if he hadn't hesitated so long to dive in after them, he could've saved both of them. The guilt had eaten at him for years, until the loss was a part of him, the lessons learned that day one of the cornerstones on which he'd built his principles and ideals.

To find out that he was alive…that he'd grieved needlessly, that he'd stood before an empty grave and begged forgiveness…it was very nearly too much to bear. Indeed, his grip on the rifle was white-knuckled, and part of him refused to believe until he'd seen, until he knew for certain.

"Take off the mask," he repeated, his voice rigidly controlled for how close he was to the edge. "Take it off right now."

The man, Obito or Tobi or whoever the hell he was, turned to him for only a second before his attention flitted back to Itachi.

"And the plot thickens," he mused, shaking a finger in Kakashi's direction. "That's very hypocritical of you, Ka-

A bang, and then there was a clean tear in the fabric covering his face where the bandana hung down in front of his neck, barely a centimeter below his chin.

"Take it off." The marshal had worked the action of the rifle barely a second after the shot and the barrel was once again level with the man's chest.

"Kakashi," Itachi spoke, his tone almost warning.

"Rude," the man muttered; one of his hands rose to his face. "If it will get you to butt out, fine." He tugged the fabric down and Kakashi's grip on his weapon tightened so much he felt the bones in his hands creak, because that was Obito; a badly scarred, much older Obito, yes, but Obito all the same.

There was a long moment of silence as the two stared at each other.

"…how?" Kakashi finally bit out; there were tight tremors running down his spine now, but he hold on the weapon was still steady. His hold on sanity at the moment was less so.

"Now really isn't the time for a reunion, Kakashi," Obito stated coolly. "I was in the middle of something, in case you didn't notice while you were skulking around over there."

"You were dead," the Hatake growled. "How…how could you have done that? How could you have done that to me? How could you have done that to _Rin_?"

The questions were swirling in his head, bits and pieces of the past joining the mix. So much would have been different if Obito was alive…if they'd _known_ Obito was alive.

But now the Uchiha's eyes had narrowed, the kind of hateful, pain-filled rage that drove men mad appearing on his face.

"Don't you dare say her name," he hissed, and now Kakashi knew he had his full attention. "After what you did…you have no right."

"If you'd been there, maybe it wouldn't have happened," Kakashi spat back; he wasn't a naturally confrontational man, and he could count on one hand the number of times he'd actually gotten into an honest-to-god, shouting match with someone, but he could feel that this was what the conversation (such that it was) was building toward.

"Or maybe you would have shot me, too," Obito snarled. "You broke the promise, Kakashi."

"She didn't give me a choice," he retorted, but he knew it was true; if he'd taken better care of her, there shouldn't have needed to be a choice.

Rin had been captured by the enemy, back in the late days of the war, and Kakashi had gone after her. She'd been exposed to a highly infectious, extremely deadly disease and then allowed to escape, in the hopes that she would carry it back with her and allow the disease to decimate their numbers. What the enemy hadn't counted on was Rin's extensive medical knowledge; she'd known of their plan even before they released her.

Kakashi would only find this out later, barely a minute before she threw herself in front of a shot meant for an enemy coming up fast behind them. He'd been using a shotgun, hoping the spread of the buckshot would make up for his lack of accuracy as he ran. She had smiled at him and murmured his name as she died in his arms.

The event had broken him for a long while.

"Take your pathetic excuses and get out of my sight," Obito demanded, his pistol suddenly in his hand and pointed straight at Kakashi. "I don't have time to deal with you right now."

"Kakashi," Itachi repeated, taking a step toward the two. "We need him alive."

"You stay out of this," Obito snapped, his eyes never leaving Kakashi. "It was your fault she was in that situation in the first place."

"I failed," Kakashi agreed slowly. "I should have been with her that night. I should have died with her. But where were you? Clearly not dead."

"I was on my way there," Obito snarled. "But what do I arrive to find? You killing the woman you promised me you'd protect!"

"You should have been there before that!"

"I couldn't! I was locked up listening to Madara ramble on and on about how the system is flawed and the territories are corrupt and our ancestors deserved vengeance and none of it made sense until that moment!" His words kept coming faster and faster, hands gesticulating wildly, the pistol still clutched in his right one. "And you know what? You have yourself to thank for all this, Kakashi. I wouldn't have seen sense, seen the beautiful reason behind Madara's plan, if I hadn't been there that night. In fact, I should probably thank you, for opening my eyes to the truth! This world is a broken hell, full of needless wars and fights over pieces of land. Things were better in the old days, before people started dividing up the land and claiming it as their own! We will return things to the way they were, and everything will be better, and then we can rest, Kakashi, you and I both." He turned to Itachi for the first time in a few minutes. "Surely you can see the appeal, the perfection of the plan? You claim to love peace above all else. You should join us. All of you," he said, looking from Itachi to Kisame to Kakashi.

Kakashi stared at him, and the wrath in his chest was suddenly tempered by a deep sorrow.

"…you're mad," he said, quietly and almost gently. "…I don't know what Madara did to you, Obito…and I'm sorry, but I only know one way to fix it." He pulled the rifle back into his shoulder more firmly as he spoke, and before anyone could so much as blink, he took aim and fired.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Naruto yawned and stretched his arms above his head, twisting and straining until his joints cracked with a satisfying chorus of pops. The train had just come to a halt at the Konoha station and they were just about to disembark.

The journey back had been uneventful; in fact, he'd fallen asleep barely ten minutes in, the rocking motion of the train oddly soothing. Sasuke had also passed out at some point during the trip, because Naruto had woken up drooling on his shoulder and the only reason Sasuke wouldn't have complained was if he was unconscious (which he was). Sakura had shaken them both awake as they neared the station.

"Ahh…good to be back," Naruto sighed as they stepped off the train onto the platform. "We'll have to thank Gaara again for those tickets."

The ginger had bought them the tickets back and forced them on them, refusing to accept their promises to repay him; his family was quite wealthy due to their connections to the gold reserve.

"Hn. Keep moving," Sasuke muttered, pushing him across the platform and down off of it into the street.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to shove, ya bastard," he huffed, swatting at him as they came to a halt alongside the station building, carefully out of the way. "Where are we headed? It's kinda late to head to the town hall, don't ya think?"

"It's just about five thirty. If we hurry, there might still be someone there who could point us in the right direction," Sakura pointed out, glancing at the clock on the wall of the station.

Sasuke nodded slightly.

"It's best to get this over with…"

Naruto shrugged.

"Works for me, as long as we find something to eat when we're done," he said, rubbing at his grumbling stomach.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and strode off toward the center of town, trusting that they would follow him. They would, of course, but that didn't mean Naruto couldn't complain about it. He didn't mind, really, but it was the principle of the thing; when Sasuke provided the opportunity, he took it.

They made their way through the streets of the town until they reached the bog, tower-like building that overlooked all the others and formed the headquarters for the Konoha branch of the marshals as well as the seat of the territory's government. Making their way inside, they encountered a secretary just packing her things away for the day.

"Excuse me," Sakura began politely, stepping forward; she was usually the group spokesperson when it came to sweet-talking. "We're looking for Hiruzen Sarutobi. Is he still in the tower?"

The woman looked over at them, pausing in gathering together a few files of papers.

"All the marshals are busy today. Sorry miss," she replied, turning back to the papers.

"It's extremely urgent, though," Sakura pressed, leaning forward slightly. "It's about Akatsuki."

Arching a brow, the brunette straightened up again, surveying them.

"Mr. Sarutobi is out seeing off the patrols for the evening. If you head to the stables directly behind the building, you may be able to catch him before he returns to his office."

"Thank you so much," Sakura smiled, gesturing Sasuke and Naruto after her and back out the door.

Once they were outside, Naruto grinned and high fived her.

"Nice job, Sakura!"

"It won't matter if we don't hurry up," Sasuke muttered, though he touched her shoulder lightly in an affectionate way as he strode off around the building.

"Wait up, ya impatient jerk!" Naruto huffed, taking off after him.

They had just reached the stables in time for a posse to go riding out of them; near the entrance stood a familiar elderly man with the Fire Territory symbol blazened on the back of his duster, watching the riders pass with a rather grave expression.

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other and then hurried over to him as he turned toward the back entrance of the tower.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi," Sasuke called; the man paused and turned to look at them, inclining his head slightly.

"Sasuke Uchiha. And Naruto Uzumaki. What brings you two here?" he questioned; his eyes were tired but his tone was smooth and strong.

"We need to talk to you," Naruto said, glancing at Sasuke. "Well, Sasuke needs to and we want to, right Sakura? Sakura?" He frowned, turning a couple of circles. "Where'd she go?"

Sasuke frowned as well, glancing around.

"She was here a minute ago," Naruto stated; he was starting to worry now.

Hiruzen arched a brow.

"Was there someone else with you?"

"Yeah, Sakura, she was right there," he said frustratedly, indicating the spot just behind him and Sasuke.

"Perhaps she needed the bathroom. I'm afraid I really don't have much time to talk today. We're in the middle of somewhat of an emergency and-

The sound of a gunshot from within the building cut him off, and they all glanced at each other and then ran for the door.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Sakura frowned slightly to herself, coming to a halt; the two men entering the building through the side door they'd just passed had looked quite familiar. The distinctive hairstyles were what really sparked her memory; she was certain she'd seen both the bright red mess and the long blonde queue on wanted posters before, specifically Akatsuki wanted posters.

Her boys were already long gone around the side of the building, intent on their mission; by the time she caught up to them, she would probably never be able to find the two in the multitude of hallways contained in the tower.

Making her choice with a firm nod to herself and a hand rested on her pistol, she turned sharply on her heel and headed back to the entrance the men had been headed for, pulling it open carefully.

They were just disappearing down the hall, having rounded a corner to the left; she hurried after them as stealthily as she could manage, growing more certain by the second that she had correctly identified them.

"I still don't get it, why we have to use your methods instead of mine, yeah," one of them, the blonde, was complaining as she got closer; they were headed up a flight of stairs, toward the upper level executives offices (she'd taken a tour of the building in school as a young girl).

"Because my methods are both less disgustingly overdone and more long lasting," the red-head replied, sounding disdainful.

"How dare you call my art disgusting and overdone, yeah?"

"Because it is. Now be quiet. If your mouth gets us caught before I get to work on my new model, I will kill you."

"You can try, yeah," the blonde muttered, but he did fall quiet.

Sakura's frown deepened; just what had she stumbled upon? Quickening her step, she caught up with them in time to see them disappeared through a door on one of the landings. She waited a second and then stepped through, only to come to an abrupt halt as she was suddenly face to face with the ginger.

"Who are you?" he questioned tonelessly, head tilting slightly; his facial expression remained entirely unchanged. "And why are you following us?"

_Oh shit._

"Ahh…hehe…I'm sort of lost. I was hoping you two knew where you were going," she said airily, feigning nonchalance.

The redhead did not look impressed. He didn't look much of anything, really. It was unnerving.

"It really gets on my nerves when people treat me like an idiot," he said in that same soft, toneless voice.

"Hey, Sasori, isn't that one of those kids that runs around with Kakashi all the time, yeah?" the blonde, Deidara (as she recognized him from the wanted posters now), questioned.

The redhead looked her up and down once and she gripped her gun tightly.

_Oh this is bad._

"It might well be…the girl who apprenticed under the Senju woman for a time, I think."

"Yeah. With the crazy hair."

"In that case," the ginger said, tilting his head the other way now. "We'd better either kill her or take her with us. This is a waste of time."

"How about neither?" Sakura growled, drawing her gun and firing twice, putting the rounds in the redhead's heart.

He looked down at the holes in his shirt and then back up at her slowly.

"Is that all?"

Her eyes widened in shock, and before she could recover from it, a hand had wrapped around her throat.

A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A

**A/N: Hey all.**

**-Quick chapter update because my inspiration won't leave me alone. I dunno if it seems rushed or not. Kind of a big rise in action, I know, but it felt right so…meh. Please let me know what you all think. **

**-We now know the Madara plan for this story. It's a little unoriginal, probably, but…I dunno.**

**-Kakashi vs Obito is happening (sort of). I did the best I could with the backstory, but I'm not sure I like it. I might tweak it later (probably not because I'm lazy, but miracles do happen, right?).**

**-Kakashi kinda stole the show in that confrontation, hehe…originally, I planned to have it be a 'join the darkside, Itachi (for real)' speech scene from Obito to Itachi, but everyone's other favorite masked man swooped in and decided it was his turn. I dearly love both Kakashi and Itachi (and Kisame, to a lesser degree), and they constantly vie for more attention in my head. Kakashi won that time, lol.**

**-I believe it was 'mysweetscream' who hoped for a sasosaku encounter. If you're still reading this, here you go. It's happening. Mostly because I want to showcase how creepy a character mechanic I have planned for Sasori in this AU.**

**-I'm still tired, lol. But I think that's my default setting on exam weeks.**

**-Listened to 'Man With a Harmonica' from Once Upon a Time in the West, 'Il Trielo' by Ennio Morricone, 'Ecstasy of Gold' by Ennio Morricone, 'Ghost Town' by Adam Lambert, and oddly enough 'Can't Feel My Face' by the Weeknd. Bonus points for anyone who knows what movie's score the second and third songs are from (it is most appropriate music for this fic).**

**-Okay, thanks for reading and please take time to review. **


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